Arkansas MEMS crews work around the clock despite winter weather

While some people have been able to stay home from work or school this week, first responders with MEMS have been working around the clock to keep Arkansans safe.

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — With patches of ice still covering Arkansas roads as of Wednesday night, experts have been continually warning drivers to take it slow while on the roads or to just stay home.

However, there’s one group that can’t always do either— first responders, who still have situations to respond to and lives to save regardless of the weather outside.

That includes Metropolitan Emergency Medical Services (MEMS), which serves Little Rock and much of Central Arkansas.

“When we see the weather reports of incoming inclement weather, we start preparing days before,” explained Chris Marshall, the Operations Manager for MEMS.

While you might think that with the roads being treacherous, MEMS might be working with a skeleton crew, or at least less staff than usual. It’s actually the opposite.

“Staffing wise, we build an extended operations plan and we put extra staff on the streets,” Marshall said.

He said preparations also include making sure crews, especially those on the outskirts of town, have plenty of food to eat.

MEMS workers also shovel, salt, and sand their parking lots, and use studded tires to make sure their ambulances have traction.

Marshall said that’s especially necessary for the ice and freezing rain that this storm brought.

“Even though the amounts now are less than they were last month, it’s just a different type of precipitation that causes the travel to be different,” Marshall said.

No matter what the winter weather looks like, the calls that MEMS gets all tend to be the same.

According to Marshall, there are three main things you need to be more aware of with conditions like these.

“What you will see is an increase in falls,” Marshall said. “You know, ice is slick, so people do fall. Traffic accidents, cold exposure. During this time, we have seen an increase in all of those types of calls.”

Even with the weather being how it is, you shouldn’t hesitate to call MEMS over the next few days if you need them.

Their crews are well-equipped to get to you, and they hope the extra staff will cut down on their response times.

 “It’s not necessarily that the call volume has increased,” Marshall said. “Just the travel times take longer, and so just be patient. We’ll get there as soon as we possibly can.”

If you are in need of help during a medical emergency, always call 911.

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