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Sanford Ambulance reports 2024 response data, staffing challenges and strong cardiac arrest survival
Summary
Sanford Ambulance briefed the commission on 2024 operations: roughly 15,000 calls in Fargo, a 65% transport rate, good performance on time-critical responses and cardiac arrest survival, and ongoing recruitment and retention challenges for paramedics.
Tim Meyer, senior director for Sanford Ambulance (formerly FM Ambulance), presented the service’s annual report to the Fargo City Commission, describing call volumes, response times, staffing, accreditation and program highlights for 2024.
Meyer said Sanford Ambulance employs about 140 team members in the metro area, including paramedics, EMTs and dispatchers, and that the service is the only accredited ambulance service in North Dakota. He told commissioners that Fargo logged a little more than 15,000 ambulance calls in 2024 and that approximately 65% of calls result in a patient transport. Sanford reported an overall response-time goal of reaching 90% of calls in nine minutes or less, and Meyer said the service met that target for the year (about 93% overall), though performance dipped in December and later rebounded.
Meyer described a high volume of behavioral-health–related calls among the top impressions and noted the service dispatches with lights-and-sirens for roughly half of responses. For time-critical emergencies (strokes, STEMI heart attacks, major trauma), average response time was about 6 minutes, 55 seconds. The service participates in Mission: Lifeline with hospitals and reported strong cardiac arrest outcomes: 23.5% had bystander AED application (nationally about 12.6%), and patients in shockable rhythms who received bystander CPR/AED had an excellent survival-to-home outcome in their data set.
On substance use, Meyer said overdose response numbers were down roughly 34% year-over-year and Narcan administrations were also down, but he cautioned that poly-drug overdoses remain a concern because naloxone does not address non-opioid drugs.
Commissioners asked about operational changes after an on-duty shooting incident and Meyer said the service maintained scene-safety priorities, used a peer-support team after the event and relied on law enforcement for scene security. Meyer and commissioners also discussed recruitment and retention; Meyer said Sanford is hiring more EMTs and operating an academy to train new paramedics, and that Medicare and Medicaid reimbursement rates remain below the cost of service.
