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Sanford Ambulance reports 5,259 Moorhead calls in 2024; officials highlight bystander CPR, AED gaps
Summary
Sanford Ambulance presented 2024 response data to the Moorhead City Council on May 12, reporting 5,259 calls in the city, a rise in daily calls over five years, strong response-time performance versus state law, and gaps in bystander AED use despite slightly higher survival than national averages.
Sanford Ambulance senior director Tim Meyer told the Moorhead City Council on May 12 that his agency recorded 5,259 ambulance calls in Moorhead during 2024 and that call volume has risen from about 12.3 calls per day in 2019 to about 15.6 per day in 2024.
“Over 5 years, it has increased a little bit,” Meyer said, describing the five-year trend. He said only a small share of calls are life‑threatening emergencies and that callers are triaged by Red River Regional Dispatch Center.
Meyer said the agency’s response-time goal is to handle 90% of emergency calls in less than nine minutes; he noted Minnesota state law requires reaching any point in Moorhead within 10 minutes. Sanford reported meeting its internal goal on 93% of judged emergency calls in 2024, and cited an average response time of about six and a half minutes for time‑sensitive patients such as heart attacks, strokes and trauma.
Meyer and the ambulance data expert Kathy (Sanford Ambulance) described clinical outcomes for cardiac arrest in Moorhead: 36% of cardiac arrests in the city received bystander CPR, and no instances recorded by the presenters had a bystander‑applied AED in 2024. Meyer said 10.2% of cardiac arrest patients survived to hospital discharge in Moorhead versus a national figure of 9.2%.
“Bystander provided CPR and/or AED, you’re at 50 percent more head,” Meyer said, urging community CPR and AED awareness. Kathy said roughly 60% of cardiac arrests occur at home or in private settings where AEDs are unlikely to be available and encouraged residents to register for the PulsePoint app and to learn hands‑only CPR.
Meyer described the top reasons for ambulance responses in Moorhead as including behavioral/psychiatric episodes, alcohol use, abdominal pain, generalized weakness, shortness of breath, anxiety and various injuries. He also said overdose calls have remained roughly stable but now involve a wider mix of drugs; he noted Narcan is effective for opioid overdoses but not for some other substances.
Council members asked about community training and AED placement; Meyer and Kathy described existing CPR training options through Sanford Ambulance and the American Red Cross and offered to coordinate hands‑only events with local colleges. Meyer also said Sanford takes patients to the hospital the patient or family prefers and that the agency participates in Mission: Lifeline stroke and cardiac work with area hospitals.
Council members and staff agreed the data highlights community training and AED access as opportunities to improve survivability.
