The Houston Fire Department is struggling to find a more efficient way to respond to the tens of thousands of medical calls it receives each year.
According to the HFD, out of the 341,729 incidents it responded to in 2017, 297,269 were medical in nature. These numbers loom large for a department with 4,031 employees. Fire Chief Samuel Pena was blunt in saying the current way the HFD responds to many of these calls is inefficient and putting a strain on a department already struggling to meet the demands of a growing city.