Bridge closure will slow response
With the imminent closure of Westwood Bridge, one of the major concerns for residents in the neighborhood has been the increase in emergency response times once the ambulances and fire engines are required to detour around the bridge.
With this in mind, County Executive John Pelham and interim EMS director Brian Jennings took some time out Monday to drive the different routes and time the runs in an effort to determine how response times will be affected.
?We know the people in Westwood are concerned about this,? Pelham said, ?and that?s why Brian and I decided to do this. Of course these times could vary, depending on the conditions, but we think the times we got should represent a good average on these runs.?
Pelham and Jennings used Boyd Christian School as the destination on each of the runs, since it is a recognized landmark in the neighborhood. The following is a description of the routes and times Pelham and Jennings obtained:
The Westwood community?s first response is from Station 3 at Northside. With the bridge in place, their route would be down Chancery Street onto Morford Street, and across Westwood Bridge.
From Station 3 to Boyd Christian School is 3.4 miles and the response time is 4 minutes 56 seconds. With the bridge out, from Station 3 down the bypass to Boyd Christian School is 6.5 miles and response time is 6 minutes, 23 seconds. The increase on response time is 1 minute, 27 seconds.
Second option, if the truck at Station 3 was on a call, would be from Station 1 by Farm Bureau near River Park. From Station 1 to Boyd Christian School is 4.9 miles. This is down Sparta Street onto Morford Street, turn onto Chancery Street, across Frank E. Clement Bridge, turn onto Old Morrison Road and pass B&P Lamp. This response time is 7 minutes, 1 second. Increase on response time with this route is 2 minutes, 5 seconds.
The third option would be response from Station 2 at Morrison on Manchester Highway. From Station 2 to Boyd Christian School is 7.5 miles. Response time is 7 minutes, 14 seconds. Increase on response time is 2 minutes, 18 seconds.
Pelham and Jennings timed the runs from the other ambulance stations as a reference, but these runs were not done as direct comparison runs with and without using Westwood Bridge. They were done as a reference to the difference in response time between the primary station for Westwood, Station 2 in Northside.
?We don?t think the increase in response time of 1 minute, 23 seconds will have that much of an adverse effect,? Jennings said, noting that ambulances are equipped with emergency personnel and equipment, and patients will receive immediate care from the time the ambulance arrives. Also, according to emergency personnel, most EMS departments try to maintain response times of 6 to 8 minutes, and all of the main and alternative routes to Westwood fall within that range.
McMinnville Mayor Royce Davenport has been working on finding an temporary ambulance site in the Westwood community to help alleviate some of the concerns, but after making some test runs as well, city officials are not sure this will be necessary.
?In studying the situation in order to determine a location for a temporary site,? Davenport said, ?the ambulance and fire services have both come up with some surprising figures that show it?s possibly not going to be worth putting one over there.
?The Fire Department made runs from Station 1, on East Main Street, which normally serves Westwood, simulating the bridge out,? Davenport continued. ?They went over Clement Bridge and through Liberty Lane, I think it was, and got to Westwood Drive, which would be the most distant from that direction. Then they ran one simulating the bridge open, and went to the farthest point in Westwood, and the difference between the two was just 45 seconds.?
?Now the question is, is it worth it to have a unit over there when there?s so little difference? That kind of timing can be affected by other things. You could have that much of a difference due to weather or traffic conditions.
?So now it?s not as likely, I guess, that we?ll have a station over there,? Davenport added, ?because it?s not justified. And on the ambulance side of it, if they move over there, that actually makes it more distant for them to cover the rest of their area. So they?re probably better off staying where they are.?
Both Pelham and Davenport said this information would be presented at the public meeting on the bridge closure held at McMinnville City Hall last night.