Wake County is a vast 847 square miles, with 1.2 million people and growing by 66 people a day. With that expansion comes the need for EMS to bolster its services.
"Yesterday we responded to over 411 calls, that's about 40 more than average," said Don Garner, Deputy Chief with Wake EMS.
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The call volume is growing by 7 percent year-over-year. In 2024, Wake EMS transported 97,000 patients.
"When you combine the growth we have with older population, you have more medical conditions and chronic medical conditions and that means more call volume," said Garner.
Which is why the County Manager David Ellis, to spend $2.5 million in the 2026 budget to add 15 more EMTs and 10 technicians.
"We feel like we will hire them relatively quickly and get them on a truck answering calls," said Garner.
They also are proposing to revamp old, antiquated stations and build new EMS stations to combat the influx in people.
"We need to strategically place EMS stations throughout the county so that folks can expect a solid response time and get medical care that they need," said Ellis.
"We are rehabbing stations that are 30 years old that need to be brought up to code," said Garner.
To tackle the growth, Wake EMS added nine more ambulances to meet the uptick in needs for medical service.
In 2022, the vacancy rate at EMS was 22 percent. That's now down to just 4 percent.