Newberry residents may have quicker emergency response times because of a new rescue unit.
Newberry Fire Department Station 28, at 310 NW 250 Drive, put its 13th rescue unit, Rescue 28, into service Monday morning, said Jeff Taylor, the acting deputy chief of the Alachua County Fire Rescue.
The unit will be in service all day, every day of the year, Taylor said. The rescue unit provides life support services and transports patients to a hospital.
The initial cost for the unit was $950,000, and the annual recurring cost will be $650,000, Taylor said.
Fire Rescue obtained the new unit because of how long residents needed to wait to receive medical services in Newberry, said Newberry Fire Chief Ben Buckner. The average wait time is 18 minutes.
“In the rural areas, we want to be there in about 12 minutes. That’s our goal,” Taylor said. “We think that this truck will help us to reach that.”
Taylor said the rescue plans to ask for additional units next year as we to alleviate some of the strains on the system and crews.
Fire Rescue receives about 42,000 calls annually, which is about 115 to 150 calls a day, Taylor said. The unit can respond to any call anywhere in the county if it is the closest unit.
“With the addition of Rescue 28, we’ll be there to answer any type of call that comes in,” he said.
Newberry Fire Department Station 28 added their 13th rescue unit on Monday. It will run 24 hours and 365 days a year.
