The Morgan County Fire and Rescue (MCFR) may be scaling back call responses in an effort to “maximize efficiency and minimize wasted resources,” according to County Manager Adam Mestres. County leaders are exploring ways to reduce the number of medical calls to which the MCFR typically responds.
According to Mestres, the fire department currently responds to all “Priority 1” calls and some “Priority 2” calls that come through Morgan County Dispatch. However, the classification system is broad enough that calls that do not always warrant the fire department to respond, says Mestres.
“What ends up happening is you have the fire department responding to some calls where they are not needed and showing up to medical situations that EMS (Emergency Medical Services) can handle on their own,” explained Mestres. “The fire department is not busier because of an increased volume in fire calls but because now they are answering more medical calls.”