Medic changes response procedures for 2023

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (WBTV) - Mecklenburg County EMS is changing how it responds to some calls, including when, how fast and whether they use sirens on the way.

During Tuesday night’s Mecklenburg Board of County Commissioners meeting, leaders with Medic said they’re responding to too many calls that end up not being life-threatening situations.

After collecting data over the last year, Medic says only 5% of the more than 109,000 calls that were reported as “life-threatening” by the caller actually were.

Data from Medic shows that roughly 5% of calls received in 2022 were for life-threatening... — Data from Medic shows that roughly 5% of calls received in 2022 were for life-threatening situations.(Source: Medic/WBTV)

Not only that, but Medic believes that when first responders are going to calls, they are putting more people in the community at risk.

The agency proposed a couple ways to fix this. First, Medic officials say they will not use lights and sirens for certain priority calls anymore.

The agency pointed to data saying the use of sirens and lights increases the chances of getting into a crash by 50%.

Second, Medic said it’s cutting back on the use of first responders like Charlotte Fire. According to the agency, this will help make more resources available so it can respond to its sickest patients.

Commissioners asked Medic executive director John Peterson if the lack of staffing played a role in these changes.

While Peterson did say Medic wasn’t fully staffed, he said these changes are necessary regardless.

“The response configuration of Mecklenburg County, the way that it is today, was set up more than two decades ago, 25, 30 years ago,” Peterson said. “Think about the change in Mecklenburg County and the City of Charlotte in the last 25 years with regard to population, with regard to people, with regard to age, and also just with continued growth that we see coming in the future. This was going to happen and need to happen eventually. The time is now to do it.”

Medic says it plans to work with the community, so they know when and when not to call the agency for help.

According to Medic, these new policies will begin at the start of the new year.

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