New Dewey Beach town hall expanding services for EMS

DEWEY BEACH, Del. – $1 million of funding has been approved to expand the services of police, fire and EMS, in Dewey Beach.

“Time is everything when they are responding,” said Town Manager Bill Zolper.

Dewey Beach officials say most of the injuries that happen on the beach are minor enough not to justify a trip to the hospital. However, if a serious injury does happen, having local EMS can help keep people safe.

Commissioner Paul Bauer says that the new building will have a much larger space than what is available now.

“If you can handle ninety percent of your issues without having to drive up and down route one, obviously it is a positive impact, because you have the attention and you have the attention right away,” Bauer said.

And, it will add another layer of support for beach goers and visitors to the community. “We are going to be housing the Police, the EMS and the administration all within the same building,” Bauer said.

This location will have a new vehicle bay, a head quarters with a command post, a kitchen and sleeping quarters, unlike at the previous station. “The new area will have a complete floor dedicated just to the paramedics,” Zolper said.

It’s not just extra space that makes this building important. Zolper says that shortening the response time of EMS personnel can be the difference between life and death in a serious emergency.

“Cutting their response time in Rehoboth, Dewey and Bethany by about half, because they were responding in Midway area from their previous station,” Zolper said. “Cutting the response time in half is critical when you are talking about saving people’s lives.”