Buffalo Mayor Byron Brown heaped praise on American Medical Response Tuesday after the ambulance company improved its response times by over two minutes.
"These response times are the best that we have ever documented in the City of Buffalo," Brown said.
AMR Regional Director Thomas Maxian says he recognizes there wasn't a lot of public confidence in their ability to make such a drastic improvement.
"In mid-2016, such high level of service and complete contract compliance would probably have been characterized as a pipe dream. Today, it is a reality," Maxian said.
Last year, the city's EMS Board questioned the reliability of AMR’s service.
The city contract with AMR requires certain response times.
For instance, Life Threatening Emergencies require paramedics at the scene within 8 minutes and 59 seconds for no less than 90 percent of calls during any month.
Non-Life Threatening Emergencies require service within 9 minutes and 59 seconds.
"They're responsible for providing responses within every category within the 90th percentile. That was not being met before. We were in the 70s in some cases and in some cases, might have even dipped into the 60s," said Buffalo Fire Commissioner Garnell Whitfield.
Maxian says AMR has improved by adding 100 new medical professionals to its Western New York team, with many based in Buffalo.
He says it has added about 20 new ambulances in the last six months and upgraded its technology infrastructure.
To improve times even further, AMR and Buffalo Ambulance Dispatch plan to introduce a new data communications link.
"The link will replace an antiquated dispatch procedure that will allow us to streamline the two-way communication delivery of information, eliminate unnecessary data input duplication and eliminate the stacking and queuing of calls," Maxian said.
Maxian says with the new system, once Buffalo Ambulance enters information in its computer system, it will automatically be sent to AMR.
He says this will put ambulances on the road even faster because his dispatchers won't have to speak over the radio to get that information and then repeat it back.