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Fire‑EMS reports 10.5% increase in calls in 2024; department adds whole‑blood capability
Summary
Fredericksburg Fire‑EMS reported a 10.5% rise in overall incidents in 2024, driven mainly by medical/rescue calls (6,781). The department said it will add two ambulances to the fleet soon and has equipped one ambulance with whole blood to improve outcomes for severe bleeding cases.
The Fredericksburg Fire‑EMS department reported a 10.5% increase in total incidents in 2024 compared with 2023 and described operational changes, fleet additions and a new whole‑blood capability during a presentation to the City Council on Tuesday.
"We had a total number of 107 fire‑related calls and 6,781 medical calls," the fire chief told the council while reviewing incident categories and response patterns. The chief said most of the department’s workload is medical care and transport, and that frequent simultaneous calls strain staffing and response capacity.
Fire‑EMS staff showed that the city accounted for the majority of incident volume but that response time and workload are influenced by suburban and rural transfers and mutual‑aid requests; transfers to higher‑level hospitals increased year‑over‑year, and managers said staffing limitations at receiving hospitals can increase the number of ambulance transfers. The department also reported a decrease in brush/wildland fires in 2024 compared with a busy 2022 wildfire year.
The chief told council that two ambulances are expected to enter service soon (one remount and one vehicle acquired from an out‑of‑state delivery), and staff have updated protocols and equipment. He said the department has recently obtained whole blood and developed protocols to carry it on at least one ambulance; officials described whole blood as a tool to improve survivability in severe hemorrhage cases.
Council and staff noted continued growth in call volume and the need to monitor staffing, mutual aid and hospital transfer patterns as planning for future budgets continues.
