The Fallston Volunteer Fire and Ambulance Co., along with the other emergency service providers in the region, once again saw an increase in the year over year totals related to calls for service to the communities we serve. Continued surges in communicable diseases, hospital capacity issues, and weather related incidents are just a few of the factors that influenced operations at the FVFAC throughout 2022.
While the increases in the number of calls for service this past year weren’t as large as in 2021, our Fire/Rescue calls (this includes structure fires, motor vehicle accidents, fire alarm activations, assisting EMS, hazardous conditions, and other call types.) and the number of times our EMS units were dispatched for medical calls increased at a rate of 4.5% combined during 2022. This results in an overall increase of 47% in call volume from 2020-2022.
So many factors play into these increases that we cannot attribute the numbers to specific causes. Regional growth and development, communicable diseases, hospital capacity, overall regional EMS staffing, societal changes, and other factors all continue to account for the increases to some degree.
One thing is certain, the increased call volumes reflect the increased challenges we continue to face for our VOLUNTEERS at Fallston and the combination system utilized in Harford County and elsewhere throughout the Fire and EMS service. These challenges present themselves in the form of needed increases in staffing, training, equipment, and funding for FVFAC. Please consider this when you receive your Fund Drive requests in your mailbox in 2023, and PLEASE think about joining the FVFAC as a member to help us continue to help the Fallston community!!!
