[Seaford, Del., June 25, 2021] Sussex County’s paramedics have a new base of operations in the fight to save lives on the western front.
Sussex County officials held a ribbon-cutting ceremony on Friday, June 25, 2021, to celebrate the grand opening of the new Medic 110/EMS 200 (Western District Supervisor) station, at the corner of U.S. Route 13 and Swain Road north of Seaford. Located approximately 2½ miles from its previous location off Sussex Highway near Blades, the new 5,000-square-foot facility provides nearly five times the space than its predecessor, with improved access to serve residences and businesses in western Sussex County. The station also will serve as quarters for a supervisor and training facility for new medics.
Paramedic crews from the new Medic 110 station will continue to serve the Seaford and Blades area – the core of the U.S. Route 13 corridor – in the western portion of the county, while units to the north and south will remain in place to cover the Bridgeville-Greenwood and Laurel-Delmar areas, respectively. The new location, which feeds directly into U.S. Route 13, is more strategically located and helps evenly distribute EMS resources in the county.
“We feel that this station is in the best location for us to improve our overall response times to calls, thus providing better service to residents and visitors of the area,” Sussex County Emergency Medical Services Director Robert Murray said. “The station design was based on our east side dual station that serves the Lewes-Rehoboth Beach area and opened in 2017.”
The new $2 million paramedic station – a single-story building designed to blend with the surrounding residential areas – is the fifth free-standing, County-owned facility built exclusively to house EMS crews and units in recent years. Since 2009, the County has constructed new medic stations near Laurel, Long Neck, Ocean View, and Lewes, shifting from a decades-long model of renting space or co-locating with volunteer fire/EMS companies for quarters. Sussex County EMS provides around-the-clock advanced life support throughout the county, augmenting the emergency medical care provided by local volunteer ambulance and fire companies, known as Basic Life Support. In 2020, crews from Medic 110 responded to nearly than 3,300 calls for service, with a typical response time of just over seven minutes.
Sussex County plans to transition all its medic stations in the coming years so that each unit is housed independently, giving staff more space for life-saving equipment and better access to communities served, all with the goal of saving taxpayers’ dollars and improving response times. Sussex County EMS has 10 fixed stations, and one seasonal unit.
Sussex leaders said the new station, which became operational this spring, represents the County’s continued commitment to public safety. Funding for the station’s design and construction was made possible through the County’s share of realty transfer taxes collected on property sales.
“We are proud to open this facility today, which represents not just an investment in our award-winning paramedic program, but a commitment to the public we serve,” Sussex County Council President Michael H. Vincent said. “We must equip our brave and talented first-responders with the tools, training, and facilities they need to deliver life-saving care to patients, and this new station will go a long way in supporting that mission of saving lives.”
Among some of the new station’s features, the building includes two garage bays that will accommodate four emergency vehicles, office/conference space, a kitchen, day room, sleeping quarters and fitness area. Construction was performed by the Whayland Co. of Laurel, Del. George, Miles & Buhr, LLC of Salisbury, Md., and Seaford provided design services.
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