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DARIEN, Conn. -- Darien Post 53 emergency medical service average response time was above national averages in 2012, according to a report by the EMS Review Committee.
Post 53, which is mostly staffed by teens, was called 1,525 times in 2012, with an average response time of six minutes, one second. The national standard is between eight and 12 minutes. Darien's response time is measured from the time the call is received to when an ambulance arrives on scene. In previous years it has been measured from the time the ambulance is dispatched to when it arrives. Post 53 also responded to calls in neighboring towns 96 times last year.
There were 506 calls where paramedics were called from either Stamford or Norwalk. About 90 percent of the paramedics calls came from Stamford. The average response time for paramedics was nine minutes, 21 seconds. During the last quarter of the year the average response time for paramedics was eight minutes, 54 seconds.
Darien has considered adding its own paramedics rather than relying on paramedics from surrounding towns. The EMS Review Committee concluded again this year that a Darien-based paramedic service is unnecessary.
The Review Committee will be taking a more detailed look at EMS responses in order to determine where additional improvements can be made. This will include looking at calls when paramedics were called to the scene by Post 53, reviewing calls that were above the average response time, and analyzing response times by geographical zone.
The committee will also analyze data on the five calls in 2012 when patients were pronounced dead at the scene, to see if response time played a factor in survival.
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