San Diego Fire-Rescue's new peak-hour engine reducing response times in East Village

Deployed 5 months ago, Engine 80 has reduced response times in the East Village and Gaslamp Quarter to 3 minutes and 40 seconds on average.

[@stephenhanneken3041]

That's similar to what FDNY did back in the late 60s and early 70s when the ghettos were burning. They were called Tactical Control Units and were on during the high-incidence hours.
Some companies actually were split into two sections with their own apparatus. The regular companies would not necessarily respond together since it was a safe bet that once one assignment went out there would be another soon after in the same district.

[@jumpingjeffflash9946]

My department purchased a 2 man squad that runs during the day and at night when manpower allows, it's a huge asset and takes the burden from the engine I'm on. It saves wear and tear on these $500,000-$800,000 custom made engines. The squad chases all the bullshit medical calls.

[@mooseriddle]

Love this concept for congested cities!

[@paxundpeace9970]

We have plenty of Ambulances that only run during daytime or in the from lunch till midnight.
This helps a lot.
Call volumes are much high during daytime.

[@paxundpeace9970]

They should keep them.
This can allow for more day time shifts too it is an alternative for common 24 hour shifts

[@scottwrobliski5049]

Awsome decision it is 😅

[@austinpace5071]

Why they aren’t running much cheaper squad trucks with two personnel for these medical calls is beyond me. No reason you need a full-size fully equipped apparatus when 80+% of calls are medical.

[@allthingsfire9926]

Because it's not as cost effective as people think it is.
A city of 50 Frontline Engines Plus Engine 80,
8 of wish Regularly Run Over 4000 Calls a year(2 at over 5000, 1 at over 6,000 which is Engine 4 where 80 is now Stationed). Engine 80 is actually staffed by Personal From Squad 55 Which was taken out of service from a neighborhood in Battalion 6.
Fire engines go from call to call often...What is a 2 person Squad gonna do when a Structure Fire comes in right after their medical call...Squads End up being additional expenses rather than Staffing an additional engine that can run on everything. Squads can be great if deployed properly, But in reality your just gonna need an Engine for any District anyway so it's not as worth it...Plus Engine 4's District has alot of high acuity calls, which means you'd have to send a Squad and an Engine when those come in which again just increases the additional expense...Might as well have just staffed the engine to begin with
It's also important to note San Diegos Policy I believe only Sends an Engine to high acuity triaged calls to begin with(Level 1's) While Medic Units or BLS units typically respond alone to Lower Acuity calls(Level 2's and 3's). So ultimately the Squad Response Model has limited practicality...Its great in theory....But in practice often you'd just be sending a Squad while also sending an Engine from another District. It happened alot with Squad 55 when it was still running.

[@mikefargo4339]

Our department has been running them for over 20 yrs.

[@joshroten3997]

👍 variably-staffed engines, RAs, even BCs when and where needed.