It’s a race to improve slow 9-1-1 response times.
With Atlanta Medical Center’s closure on the horizon, city and hospital leaders are working to help stem the delays at Grady EMS.
It’s an issue that has plagued areas of the city for years.
Atlanta’s Public Safety Committee held a meeting Monday to hear from Grady EMS, which provides EMS services to the City of Atlanta and over a dozen counties. Grady Hospital and EMS are preparing to absorb more patients and improve 911 response times.
“The last two and half years have been beyond challenging,” said John Hanson, Senior VP of Grady EMS.
A CBS 46 investigation from this summer exposed slow response times with the average monthly response time for life-threatening calls, according to state records ranging from 22 and 29 minutes in May.
“Since 2019 our call volume has increased over 9 percent,” said Hanson.