All members of the Medical Control Board voted to start testing a pilot program that would allow Charlotte firefighters to leave the scene of a call if the patient is OK and MEDIC is already on its way.
"You call 911 and you're going to get a red truck coming pretty fast in a short time frame,” said CFD Chief Reginald Johnson. “But there are non-emergency calls -- foot injuries, back injuries where the person is in a stable place at home but still wants to be transported to the emergency room. That could be one of those type of calls." Johnson said the new protocol would free up his firefighters, so they can respond to more serious, life-threatening calls, like cardiac arrests, car wrecks and seizures.
Charlotte resident Shay Morgan suffered a seizure and said it required a response from first responders.
"They actually took me to the emergency room and I actually had to stay in the hospital a couple of days," said Morgan.