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First responders prep for winter storm, high call volumes

Expect response times to be slower, and ambulances will likely focus on high-priority calls.

FORT WORTH, Texas — North Texas first responders have spent the week preparing for winter weather that began hitting the state Wednesday.

The Fort Worth Fire Department said it has been making sure chains for tires are ready and that water is drained from hoses on trucks.

While the weather expected this won't be near as bad as last year’s devastating February storm, fire department spokesperson Mike Drivdahl said the department took away lessons it can use this week.

“All of these weather events are different. They change at a moment’s notice,” he said. “What we’re really good at is pivoting, making sure we’re prepared for the worst - hoping for the best.”

MedStar will have buckets of sand and salt in their ambulances to make sure crews don’t slip walking around.

“The roads are going to be terrible,” MedStar spokesperson Matt Zavadsky said. “We know we’re going to have a ton of crashes. Make sure you have some equipment in your car - blankets, water for certain. People underestimate how much weather like this can dehydrate you.”

Zavadsky said when roads become ice-covered, they don’t use lights and sirens, so response times are slower. Both MedStar and the fire department are expecting 911 call volume to be about double what it typically is.

“We need to be able to able to manage those calls in a different way, and we learned how to do that last year,” Zavadsky said. “We learned how to dress more appropriately, learned how be able to manage call volume that were low acuity.”

Beyond road concerns, Drivdahl said the fire department responded to 2,000 calls a day last year for busted pipes, and it’s important to cover outdoor faucets and drip faucets to prevent freezing.

A total of 246 people died in the 2021 storm, many from hypothermia, but carbon monoxide poisoning from appliances and generators also killed many.

“Whenever we have these types of events, our call count increases,” Drivdahl said. “We’ve had some deaths here in Fort Worth due to carbon monoxide. Carbon Monoxide is a colorless, odorless and tasteless gas and that’s what makes dangerous.”

The fire department and MedStar say while the storm is typical for winter, people should avoid roads and take precautions.

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