The planned reopening of Fire Station 3 is even more imperative to city safety with the pending closure of Affinity Medical Center, officials say.
Taking patients farther to emergency rooms at Aultman Hospital and Mercy Medical Center in Canton will likely add an extra seven to 10 minutes to ambulance response times, according to Fire Chief Tom Burgasser.
And a paramedic crew’s overall time commitment, which includes transferring a patient, briefing doctors/nurses, filling out the necessary paperwork and returning, could mean an hour trip, he said.
“Obviously, we’ll have increased response times and need extra resources to compensate for that,” the chief said.