New Dunedin Fire vehicle assists with response time, safety

DUNEDIN, Fla. — No day on the job is the same for AJ Gonzales. It’s what he likes about being a firefighter/paramedic for Dunedin Fire Rescue.

Dunedin Fire recently got a new mini-ambulance, which Gonzales says will help reduce response time and increase safety.

“We can treat anything in this vehicle that we can on the full-size rescue,” Gonzales said. “We have the full complement of advanced life-support medications, cardiac monitoring, airway support and trauma bag to treat just about anything we can run into.”

The mini-ambulance allows first responders to bring patients into a private, climate-controlled space to provide care, rather than treating them out in the open. 

“We encounter these patients wherever they’re at,” Gonzales explained. “If they’re at a special event, maybe it’s some kind of outdoor venue and they have a problem, we can bring them in here and get them out of the crowd, talk to them privately and really drill down on what’s going on and give them the best care.”

The compact vehicle will help first responders maneuver tight spaces quickly, which will help with recovery after storms. But it will mainly be used during large, outdoor events and is equipped with ballistic vests and helmets. 

“It is a fact of the world that we live in right now that sometimes there are violent events that occur,” Gonzales said. “This allows us to be protected when going in those more dynamic, hostile environments.”

Dunedin Fire Rescue is the first in the Tampa Bay region to get this type of vehicle. The department plans to keep it in service for the next 10 years. 

“It gives us the opportunity to kind of set the example and hopefully other departments see the value and it helps support the area in general, besides just here in Dunedin,” Gonzales said. 

The mini-ambulance cost just over $70,000, according to Deputy Fire Chief Michael Handoga. It was paid for using funds from the American Rescue Plan Act.

While Dunedin is the first in the Tampa Bay area to have this type of vehicle, it has been used by fire departments in Nashville and New York City, Handoga said.