New EMS station to reduce response times in Cape Coral

To make sure rescuers are close enough when your life is on the line, Cape Coral is investing in a new Emergency Medical Service station.

The first responders need to hit close to the required nine-minute response time when they go out on calls.

In south Cape, they hit that rate 96% of the time, but in north Cape, it’s lower at about 91%. A number the county says will only go up once they put EMS at the new location.

“It’s still meeting a requirement but in the south Cape where it’s more built out and we have more ambulance stations, we’ll get a little bit faster to the folks. And now the north Cape is on fire, growing so fast, so we need to make sure we could get ambulances out there so that we can take care of the growing population,” said Chairman of Lee County Commission Brian Hamman.

That is one of the biggest issues in the area: the population is booming, and the city and county needs to keep up with the growth.

Rather than buy a brand new building to house the ambulances, Lee County says it is great they can work with the city and fire department to rent out space.

They’re planning on a five-year contract, totaling about $128,000 in rental fees.

Commissioner Hamman called the approval of the new EMS station a “no brainer for approval.”

And if it is, they will begin operating out of the new station in the first or second week of January.