Photo: Andover Fire Rescue
ANDOVER (WBZNewsRadio) - The Andover Fire department is launching a new EMS Bike Team to ride to the rescue and speed up effective emergency response at community events.
The program was made possible by the Merrimack Valley Striders (MVS) and the Dave McGillivray Finish Strong Foundation Inc. who provided $21,824 to cover both the equipment and training costs.
The new team will consist of 14 members to start and will be present at a number of events like Andover Days, car shows, local sporting events, road races and holiday celebrations. The team of bicyclists will be able to reach patients more quickly than traditional means and will be able to provide emergency medical services to anyone in need.
"EMS Bike Teams are a cost-effective way for us to improve response times at community events, and we are grateful to Merrimack Valley Striders and the Dave McGillivray Finish Strong Foundation for supporting this effort and making this team's creation possible with their generous financial support," said Andover Fire Rescue Chief Michael Mansfield. "We hope this unit will help build upon our relationship with the Andover community while also saving lives and providing an additional sense of security for all those at Andover events."
The department is hoping to officially launch the new team by Memorial Day.
Recently a EMS Bike Team was launched at Los Angeles International Airport and was found to dramatically improve response times. For example, the EMS Bike Team was able to reach and treat a patient in just three minutes, meantime it took the ambulance 45 minutes to reach the scene.
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