LOCKPORT, N.Y. (WKBW) — There is a major step in emergency response in Niagara County.
The City of Lockport celebrated the newest additions to its ambulance fleet, Tuesday evening.
This comes after a years-long battle over ambulance services in the City.
7 News' Pheben Kassahun was there to witness the announcement, as a follow up.
The new equipment is already being put to use.
Just moments before city leaders in Lockport were about to show off their newest ambulances, paramedics took those very vehicles to respond to a car accident.
The new life-saving equipment, now giving the Lockport fire department the ability to begin responding to calls like that one on its own.
City of Lockport fire chief, Luka Quagliano told Pheben Kassahun said, "This has been long overdue and it's been putting a heavy burden on our surrounding communities, in terms of asking for mutual aid resources to respond. The commercial resources that we had in place had some staffing issues."
Since August 2022, there have been about 450 requests for an ambulance.
Mutual aid has had to come from cities like South Lockport, Cambria, Rapids and Mercy EMS.
City of Lockport fire chief Quagliano said Twin City took over as the main responder.
Quagliano said, "Our paramedics were able to arrive on scene, and at least begin an initial care about the patient and then the ambulance would arrive and then we would transfer care. This gives us the ability to take the patient to completion to the destination of the hospital. Our response time is on average 3 and a half minutes to anywhere in the city."
Now, the City no longer has to rely on mutual aid to complete their tasks.
"Twin City was leaving on January 31st. There was going to no ambulance coverage in the city. I've watched people die as a police officer and that just was not going to happen," Lockport Common Council president, Paul Beakman said,
Retired police officer, Paul Beakman is Lockport's common council president.
He said during the city's ambulance hiatus, response times were 30 to 40 minutes.
"I spent 25 years working in the city and response time is really important to me. Twin City tried as hard as they could but the response times started creeping into the half hour territory and that means life and death towards our citizens, and we needed to do better," Paul Beakman said.
With the new ambulances, those times have dropped tenfold. Living Lockport's 50-man EMS fleet a better means to protect neighbors around town.
City of Lockport Mayor Michelle Roman said, "We appreciate everybody who has helped us and brought forward. Mutual aid has been really beneficial. Now, maybe we can return some of those favors that have been brought to the city."
The fire department has two rigs at the moment but plans to expand.
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