911 Calls For Ambulances Has CoCo Fire Crews, Emergency Resources Stretched Thin

By Andrea Nakano, CBS San Francisco:

WALNUT CREEK, CA — The Omicron surge of sick patients has not only put stress on Contra Costa County hospitals, it’s also impacting ambulances and fire crews in the county.

Calls for paramedics keep pouring into the 911 dispatch center. Ambulances at an alarming rate are responding to those with COVID-like symptoms and resources have been stretched thin.

“We have had to rely on a couple of times in the last few weeks is dispatching one of our paramedics on a fire engine, that’s not uncommon to do that,” says Steve Hill, a spokesperson with the Contra Costa County Fire Department.

Read more at CBS

CBS Local Digital Media personalizes the global reach of CBS-owned and operated television and radio stations with a local perspective.