Ambulance calls in Sweet Home for the first quarter were on track to push Sweet Home Fire and Ambulance District’s call load above the 1,900 mark again in 2005.
As of the end of the March 31 shift, the department had responded to 493 medical calls and 63 fire calls. Both numbers roughly match the same point last year, when there were 477 medical calls and 64 fire calls.
If the department’s call rate were to remain the same all year long, its 2005 medical call load would reach 1,972. The department is on track to 252 fire calls for the year.
SHFAD exceeded the 1,900 mark for the first time in 2004. The department responded to 1,948 medical calls? up from 1,689 calls in 2003. In the late 1990s, the department’s call load ran in the 1,300s. The call load spiked to more than 1,700 in 1999 before settling into the 1,600s from 2000 to 2002.