UMC EMS has been provided by UMC Health System since 1975 – over 40 years!
UMC EMS responds to over 26,000 emergency calls a year, serving a metropolitan population of over 220,000 people.
The average response time to these calls is over three minutes less than the national average. To achieve that kind of rapid response, EMS paramedics must be ready to respond to any emergency situation 24-hours a day, seven days a week.
Medical Priority Dispatch
In July 2016, UMC EMS transitioned to a more efficient and effective emergency response system called Medical Priority Dispatch.
In any situation where a 9-1-1 call is made for a person with a life-threatening illness or injury, we act with the highest level of response: UMC EMS and Lubbock Fire Rescue dispatch with lights and sirens, bypassing normal traffic to arrive in a short span of time.
When a less emergent call is received by dispatchers, such as a sprained ankle or stomach ache, our dispatchers will ask questions to verify symptoms. When assessed that it is not a life-threatening situation, UMC EMS will be sent without lights and sirens and will follow the normal flow of traffic.
This will ensure the resources patients need will be available to them, and the services they don't need will be ready for those who do.
UMC EMS Quick Facts
- UMC EMS responds to more than 31,000 calls per year.
- Average response time to calls is less than five minutes.
- UMC EMS works with medical staff at the region's only Level 1 Trauma Center at the UMC Emergency Center.
- UMC EMS covers a region with more than 300,000 people.