Lee County Commissioners approved a ONE YEAR license (Expires March 30, 2021) to run the ambulances in Lehigh Acres. But this time Lehigh Acres Fire must improve. Compliance form
Lee County Ordinance 08-16 outlines two core standards for EMS response within Section Seven: Staff Report
1. Out-of-chute time of one minute during the day and two minutes at night
2. Response time of 8:59 or less 90 percent of the time to calls classified as Delta/Echo under the Medical Priority Dispatch System
Note: Number one is a Firefighter issue, and Number Two is a Management issue.
Mohammad Yasin asked Lee County Commissioners to look at the current at lack of management in the Lehigh Acres Fire Dept.
County Public Safety Director Ben Abes has recommended that Lehigh Fire again receive county approval for only a single year because its response times do not meet the county requirement for full, two-year certification.
In a memorandum to county leaders, Abes said Lehigh Fire “continues to lack the (financial) capacity to complete the expansion to improve these response metrics.”
Abes said the county government will continue “to evaluate options for service improvements in the short-term to remedy the compliance issues.”
Lehigh Acres Fire Chief Robert DiLallo said the permanent solution needed to provide service to Lehigh’s sprawling but the growing population builds a new station on Sunshine Boulevard, where the district has already bought land for a new station.
The last attempt to fund a new fire station last June stumbled when less than 7 percent of the voters turned out for a special election on a proposal to have owners of vacant lots pick up more of the cost for fire protection. The measure failed by less than 400 votes, Fire dept again will place a ballot question on the November ballot.