A city run ambulance service is returning to Girard.  

With just under $226,000 of ARP money from the Trumbull County Commissioners, the Girard Fire Department will buy one ambulance. 

“We're hoping to provide just a more personal service faster and the service they deserve,” Jim Petruzzi, the Fire Chief of the Girard Fire Department said.  

The city hasn’t hasn’t had its own ambulances in 20 years after they were cut by previous city officials.

Without a city-owned service, firefighters and EMS personnel are able to stabilize a patient at an emergency scene but they have to wait for a third party ambulance to get there to transport that patient to the hospital. 

“Having the ability to load them onto the stretcher and get them on the way to the hospital is critical,” Petruzzi said.

Firefighter response times in the city are around two to three minutes - but there's no guarantee the ambulance will show up at the same time. 

“Sometimes you could wait a half hour or so and when your life is in danger you want that two to three minutes time to be consistent,” Mayor of Girard Mark Zuppo said. 

“Just like every other community around here the EMS runs are going through the roof,” Petruzzi said. “Everyone’s getting busier so sometimes response times are greater than we would like.”

The city owned service is expected to make medical response times to the scene and to the hospital faster and it will all be at no cost for patients according to the Mayor. 

“If they have insurance we will take their insurance, we will bill their insurance companies, whatever their insurance companies don't pay we will write off. It’s called soft billing,” Mayor Zuppo said. 

The fire department already has 13 paramedics to staff the ambulance but they are planning to hire more part timers. 

The new ambulance is expected to be on the road within the next 10 months. The city is also looking to buy two other used ambulances to further help the department with calls. Mayor Zuppo said those could be on the road as soon as this summer.