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Monona chiefs: EMS calls rising to nearly 2,000 this year; chiefs say city needs more staff and space
Summary
Fire and EMS leaders told the Public Safety Committee that Monona ran about 1,700 combined fire/EMS calls last year and expects roughly 2,000 this year; six addresses account for about 30% of EMS calls, the department says, and chiefs warned that mutual‑aid changes and limited station space will require additional staff and facility planning.
Fire and EMS leaders told the Monona Public Safety Committee that the city’s combined fire/EMS operations ran roughly 1,700 calls last year and are on pace to approach 2,000 calls this year, straining a single ambulance and prompting chiefs to seek additional staffing and space.
“We are absolutely in the next few years going to have to add staff. There’s just no no way around it,” the fire chief said, citing increasing call volume, the concentration of calls at a small number of addresses and the recent loss of a nearby ALS unit that previously helped cover the area.
The department reported it is about 16% above last year’s call volume in the first quarter. Fire officials said six specific addresses account for about 30% of EMS runs; those addresses were listed during the meeting as “111 and 211 Old Road,” “101 and 201 Frostwoods,” “250 Femurite” and “300 Femurite,” with Walmart named as a close seventh. Chiefs cautioned that those strings reflect the transcript wording and are the labels used in the meeting record.
The chiefs said the reopening of one large apartment building will add roughly 7% to call volume based on the building’s prior call history, and that other large residential developments under construction will further increase demand. The fire chief said Monona’s single ambulance is the busiest per capita in Dane County: “Our ambulance is the busiest ambulance in Dane County per capita. It’s not even close,” he said.
Mutual aid dynamics are changing: the city’s partners in Madison permanently relocated a nearby ALS unit (medic 14), officials said, and that shift means Monona will be closer to the next available ALS unit more often. The chiefs said the change will add response minutes for some calls and increase the number of times Monona units operate outside city limits.
Staffing updates included a provisional paramedic who passed national registry testing and two new full‑time hires who have been credentialed by the medical director. On the dispatch side, police leadership earlier reported that a recent salary increase produced an unusually large applicant pool for a dispatcher opening — 55 applicants versus the usual four to five — and the department has made a conditional offer to a former Madison officer for the dispatcher position.
The committee heard an ambulance procurement update: a replacement ambulance is in Minnesota for final graphics and upfitting and is expected to return for on‑installation electronic and radio work; chiefs estimated mid‑June for full operational readiness.
Fire and EMS leaders said long‑term staffing increases are tied to budget decisions and to a public safety building conversation because the department lacks on‑site space to add more full‑time employees without reducing volunteer capacity.
No committee vote was taken; chiefs said they will pursue staffing requests in upcoming budget discussions and that additional facility planning will be required to house more personnel.
