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Carmel adds ambulance staffing, police hiring increases; fire chief cites high cardiac arrest survival rate
Summary
City leaders said council funding added paramedic staffing to Station 2, new police training classes are underway after a large applicant pool, and fire leaders reported a 59% cardiac-arrest survival rate tied to police–fire collaboration and nearby hospitals.
CARMEL, Ind. — Carmel officials said the city has expanded emergency medical coverage on the west side and is actively recruiting police officers while reporting strong cardiac-arrest outcomes.
Councilors said they funded additional ambulance staffing to improve advanced life support response in southwest Clay Township. Fire Chief Joel Thacker said a transport medic (referred to in the meeting as Medic 2) entered service March 1 at Station 2 and is cross‑trained for fire responses; he credited quicker on‑scene transport and nearby specialty hospitals for improving outcomes.
"Having that transport unit on scene is very important," Thacker said, noting the unit’s March 1 start and that the city is reviewing station locations and response-time data for future planning.
Police Chief Drake Sterling outlined department workload and recruiting. He said Carmel averages about 80,000 calls for service yearly, roughly 35,000 of which are dispatched calls and about 45,000 self‑initiated contacts such as traffic stops and vacation checks. Sterling said the department is authorized for just under 160 officers and is roughly eight officers short. Recent recruitment efforts drew 320 applicants for screening — a 50% increase over recent cycles — and the department has a new academy class that began the prior Monday and additional interviews scheduled.
Sterling and Thacker also described joint planning for event security, citing broader national and international threats and noting the involvement of IT, engineering and street departments in planning major events.
Residents at the town hall asked about community policing programs such as crime watch; Sterling said the department reassigned a community outreach position in January and planned to discuss neighborhood programs at an upcoming Carmel Neighborhood Association Network meeting.
Ending: Officials said recruitment and staffing remain active priorities and that fire and police will continue to present follow-up proposals to council as additional resources or policy changes are considered.
