LANSING, Mich. (Michigan News Source) — Detroit has slashed its average emergency response time by nearly 50% since 2014 and is now prepping a nurse-run triage system to keep ambulances available for true life-or-death calls.

Code 1 response time — the clock on the most critical medical runs — has dropped from 13 minutes and 28 seconds in 2014 to 7 minutes and 22 seconds in 2024, Detroit Fire Department data show. The drop follows a multi-year overhaul that includes doubling the ambulance fleet, training firefighters as first responders, and partnering with private EMS providers, according to The Detroit News.

The next phase: Nurses answering non-urgent 911 calls.

MORE NEWS: Enbridge Releases Environmental Impact Report on Line 5, Encourages Public Input

A $650,000 contract is expected by fall to launch the new “nurse navigation” line, which will handle minor medical complaints by phone and arrange rides to the ER if needed.

“Something that nurse navigation will be able to do is to actually work with the residents to establish a relationship with a primary care physician for the residents so that they are able to utilize the medical system really the way it’s meant to be utilized,” Corey McIsaac, director of media relations for the Detroit Fire Department, said. 

The system is expected to redirect many low-priority Code 3 calls away from paramedics and toward nurses, easing strain on an EMS network that ran nearly 160,000 calls last year.

Nurse triage.

The nurse triage idea mirrors efforts in cities like Seattle and Washington, D.C., and is gaining traction nationally.

“This is something large cities … are finding as a best practice,” Greg Flynn, chair of the EMS section for the Michigan Association of Fire Chiefs, said.

The sharp drop in response times followed a focused overhaul: 1,100 firefighters were trained to handle medical calls, daily ambulance coverage doubled from 13 to 26 units, and private EMS support expanded from three to 18 rigs.

MORE NEWS: Ground Control to Congress: Michigan Sheriff Urges Immediate Action on Drone Threats

Detroit Executive Fire Commissioner Chuck Simms, who’s worked for the department nearly 40 years, said the difference is visible.

“For me to even ride past fire stations now and see our ambulances sitting in quarters, it makes me feel good,” Simms said.