City reports 1st-year learning curve with fire-based EMS

Leaders say local volunteers, partnerships key to success

Aurora Fire Chief Tom Cox, left, and EMS Captain Brent Dethlefs stand by one of the city’s four ambulances, used as part of the new fire-based emergency medical service.
Aurora Fire Chief Tom Cox, left, and EMS Captain Brent Dethlefs stand by one of the city’s four ambulances, used as part of the new fire-based emergency medical service.

One year after taking over what had been a county owned and operated ambulance service, city leaders say it was the right decision to launch a fire-based EMS unit, though admitting that they faced an accelerated learning curve in the midst of a global pandemic. City-paid personnel began responding to emergency ambulance calls on June 1, 2019. County commissioners had voted in early 2018 to discont…