Minnesota Apparatus

[Guest]

Jamey:



Good response to the question. I did a little research and of the 10 most populated cities in Minnesota, ranging in populations from 388,000(Mpls) to 62,000 (Eden Prairie) only 5 are true Full Time departments. There are other FT departments in smaller cities, but I would suspect that over 90% of the departments are POC or some type of combination.



Minneapolis runs 19 engine companies, with 3 of those being 100' quints (E-2,15,20) There are 6 ladder companies(2,3,4,5,10,11), with L-2 and 5 running 100' quints as truck companies. The department also runs two Heavy Rescues R-1 and 9. As far as staffing goes, the department will go down to the low 90's before calling back members. Ambulance service is provided by Hennepin County and North Memorial Hospitals, with Mpls being first responders.



St. Paul is in better shape. The department operates 16 engines, 7 ladders, and three Heavy Rescues, out of 16 stations. The ladders and Rescues have pumps and tanks on them, because of how St. Paul does EMS. There are 11 Medic units in the city that are cross staffed by the engine crew, where they are assigned. When an EMS call is dispatched, all 4 FF's will run the call in the ambulance. With things being what they are these days, you can have several Engine companies tied up on EMS calls. The Ladders and Squads can be dispatched to minor fires and the Squads have also been known to pull a line at a structure fire, although it is not their primary duty. Daily staffing runs around 111 per day with all units having 4 FF's on them and the Squads running with 5.



The third largest city is Rochester, at about 100,000. The department runs out of 5 stations, with 5 engine companies and two ladders. The department also runs two light rescues out of Stations 1 & 4. I believe that two FF's jump off the ladders and run these units as EMS response units. Gold Cross does ALS transport.



Bloomington is the fourth largest city with a population of about 85,000. They have the responsiblilty of the Mall of America. They run a total POC department of 140, out of 6 stations. The city website advertises an average response time of 4.1 minutes. The department operates 6 engines, 3 reserve engines, and 5 ladders. The department recently started staffing at leas 1 station with a day time duty crew. The department did not do first responder EMS calls in the past, but that may have changed with the addition of the Duty Crew. Allina EMS staffs two ALS ambulances in the city.





As Jamey indicated, the rest of the Metro is made up of suburban departments that are staffed with a mix of POC, FT and some combination of both.



Questions and corrections welcomed.