Councilor Matt O’Malley, representing District 6 (West Roxbury, Jamaica Plain, parts of Roslindale and Roxbury, and the Back of the Hill) wants more garage bay locations for ambulances in the city.
In 2017, 26 percent of calls Boston EMS responded to were priority 1 calls, which are life threatening and time sensitive. On average, Boston EMS respond to more than 355 calls a day.
According to O’Malley, 9 out of 22 Boston EMS ambulances have no stations or garages for vehicles. These ambulances park on the side of the road in between calls or in parking lots.
“One thing that would help the men and women of Boston EMS do their jobs better is to have a better system in terms of bays and garages,” O’Malley said during the regular city council meeting.
O’Malley believes the city would benefit greatly from having more stations.
“It would reduce the response time for one,” he said about ambulances having stations in the areas they cover.
He said it would also reduce greenhouse gas emissions since they wouldn’t be idling on the street, and would improve access to ambulances in their neighborhoods.
O’Malley requested a hearing on the issue to see what the city could do to create more stations.
In other news, Councilor Ed Flynn, representing District 2, wants another hearing about gas leaks in Boston.
Flynn requested and held a hearing last year after the gas explosions in the Merrimack Valley, and still thinks it is an important issue to discuss.
“It is a major public safety issue,” he said.
Flynn said recently there was a gas leak on Temple Street, but thankfully it was resolved.
“It’s a reminder of the risk involved with this infrastructure,” he said.
City Councilor Annissa Essaibi-George wants to know about gas leaks near schools.
“I think these need to be a heighten priority,” she said.
Councilor Lydia Edwards representing District One (North End, Charlestown and East Boston) wants the city to start conducting a structural analysis of the gas leaks and create a game plan moving forward.
“How are we truly going to become a green city,” she asked. “We need to have true conversations looking at the top, and then determine what needs to happen in order for us to be green.”
