FORT SMITH, Ark. — The winter weather has been affecting many people over the last few days, including first responders.
Since the snow fall on Sunday, Jan. 14, Fort Smith EMS has been busier than ever.
Tim Hearn, Fort Smith EMS executive director, said their numbers are up compared to a normal week.
“We've probably done around 90 calls since noon yesterday, being both emergent and non-emergent,” Hearn said.
Unfortunately, the snow poses a threat to providing prompt services, but Hearn said the first responders are still maintaining normal response times.
“One of the biggest difficulties the EMS vehicles have had is getting to their destination in a timely manner, but they say they are proud of the response times they've had,” Hearn said.
While Fort Smith has been dealing with many calls, first responders in Northwest Arkansas say they have not.
Pafford EMS in Rogers only reported 4 motor vehicle accidents and one cold-related emergency, while Central EMS in Fayetteville say the numbers aren't big enough to record.
Hearne says the best way to keep these numbers that way is to simply be careful when the weather gets like this.
“I just think that we need to remind everyone that you know to stay inside, the weather is extremely frigid," Hearn said. "If someone goes outside and falls, you could break something, break a hip and not be able to get back up. And then seeing that there's a delayed response, you could be outside for a while. And if you've been outside today or last night, you realize it's very cold and you could get in trouble really quickly,” Hearn said.
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