MACDILL AIR FORCE BASE, FLA. -- The 6th Medical Group and Tampa Fire and Rescue hosted a ribbon-cutting ceremony March 10, 2017, for the opening of the new ambulance bay and bunkhouse at MacDill Air Force Base, Fla.
The ceremony also highlighted a new contract between the 6th Air Mobility Wing and the city of Tampa, aimed at providing advanced lifesaving support for the installation.
Under the contract, the city of Tampa, through Tampa Fire and Rescue, provides all labor, management, supervision, ambulance supplies and equipment, transportation reports, and direct patient care to cover the full range of paramedic and Emergency Medical Technician ambulatory services. MacDill Airmen will partner with city paramedics and perform with the same level of care as the city’s response teams.
“We are a tanker town, and we love this base and the people who serve it,” said Mayor Bob Buckhorn, Mayor of Tampa. “We are happy to provide our best rescuers to care for the needs of MacDill personnel, and it’s a great relationship.”
Paramedics, EMTs and the ambulance will reside on MacDill, and provide emergency medical response and transport with a projected response time of less than 12 minutes. Emergency patients can be transported off base for extended care.
“Now we will have one ambulance that will be fully staffed 24/7, 365 days a year, but it’s not always going to be on base when it is transporting patients,” said Col. Kevin Wright, 6th MDG commander. “There is a likelihood a call will come in while they’re gone, but we have the same capability of Tampa Fire and Rescue responding from off base to cover our needs. The new contract solidifies what has already been a strong partnership.”
The contract period of performance is a one-year base period with four, one-year option periods.
“For the men and women of Tampa Fire and Rescue to have the opportunity to be a part of the MacDill family, and be here to respond to you in your times of need, really makes us feel good,” said Buckhorn. “There is not a more professional group of men and women I would submit to you anywhere in America.”