Arlington Heights Fire Department took extra precautions Saturday to anticipate emergency medical needs for a larger visiting population attending the Arlington Million and for a predicted high heat index.
Normally Arlington Heights Fire Department runs four Advanced Life Support rescue ambulances out of four fire stations in Arlington Heights. They’re numbered Ambulance 1, Ambulance 2, Ambulance 3 and Ambulance 4 — numbers that are coordinated with other communities in the Mutual Aid Box Alarm System. Saturday, Arlington Heights put a fifth Advanced Life Support Rescue Ambulance (Ambulance 5) in service, but only for Saturday from 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m.
Arlington Heights Fire Department Deputy Chief Pete Ahlman said, “We anticipated an increased volume of calls in the heat at the Arlington Million, so we put an extra ambulance in service for that 12-hour period. We ran 36 total calls in the Village of Arlington Heights for the whole day, including 27 ambulance calls. The additional ambulance, which was Ambulance #5, ran six of those calls.”
Rolling Meadows Fire Department ambulance and firefighter/paramedics also respond to Arlington International Racecourse on an auto-aid agreement with Arlington Heights.
Saturday’s high was 90°F at O’Hare with a heat index high of 95°F at 2:51 p.m.
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