By Linda Stein
Delaware Valley Journal
DELAWARE COUNTY, Pa. 鈥� Twelve minutes.
That鈥檚 the new average response time for emergency medical services (EMS) in Delaware County in the wake of the closures of Crozer-Chester and Taylor hospitals on April 30, county officials say.
And that鈥檚 a long time if you鈥檙e having a heart attack, stroke, are injured in a serious motor vehicle accident, or bleeding from a gunshot or stab wound.
| More: 7 things we鈥檝e learned from the 鈥楢mbulances held hostage鈥� series
Lower Chichester Commissioners President Rocco Gaspari Jr said ambulance response times can now take up to 28 minutes. With Crozer-Chester Medical Center鈥攚hich previously dispatched ambulances for more than half the county鈥檚 911 calls鈥攃losed, response times have increased from a prior average of eight minutes, he said.
鈥淚鈥檓 worried about the response time,鈥� said Gaspari.
The new average response time in Delaware County is significantly longer than Philadelphia鈥檚 8-minute, 48-second average in a 2022 state report.
In emergency medicine, time is critical. The widely accepted 鈥淕olden Hour鈥� doctrine emphasizes that delays in receiving care can result in complications or even death.
County officials also acknowledged that transport times to hospitals have lengthened.
鈥淔ollowing the closures of Crozer and Taylor hospitals, EMS transports in some areas now go to more distant facilities, and in some cases to hospitals outside the county or state,鈥� said Jeffrey Lange, administrator of the Delaware County Medical Examiner鈥檚 Office.
鈥� The Delaware County Office of the Medical Examiner (DCOME) identified 14 decedent cases transported by EMS in the first two months following the closures in which Crozer or Taylor would have been the closest hospital at the time of the incident,鈥� Lange added. 鈥淭hese are death-related cases.鈥�
Lange noted that while DCOME reviewed the transport distances and receiving hospitals, it does not determine whether a closer facility would have changed any specific outcomes. 鈥淓MS agencies do not track hospital diversions in a way that allows for a comprehensive analysis of their frequency or impact,鈥� he said.
鈥淎s such, DCOME does not assess whether diversions directly contributed to complications or outcomes in specific cases鈥攕uch as delays caused by extended travel distances. The information reflects observed changes in EMS routing only, not medical causation.鈥�
He added that four or five of those patients were transported to hospitals in Delaware.
Gaspari explained that if the closest ambulance is unavailable, the 911 dispatcher moves to the next in line. For Lower Chichester, the sequence is Boothwyn, followed by Brookhaven, Rocky Run, Delaware and then New Castle County, Delaware.
John Mick, chief of operations for Narberth Ambulance, said his team is receiving more calls for mutual aid from Delaware County municipalities. Narberth Ambulance has locations in Ridley, Haverford and Lansdowne, in addition to its main site in Ardmore and a station in Conshohocken.
Its average response time is eight to 10 minutes, Mick said, but mutual aid calls from farther distances can take longer.
However, the more significant time factor is often the trip from the scene to the hospital. With Crozer now closed, trauma patients must be taken to facilities such as Lankenau Medical Center in Penn Wynne or Penn Presbyterian in Philadelphia.
Gaspari recounted how his 88-year-old mother was recently transported to Riddle Hospital, which is not a trauma center.
鈥淲hen I went into the emergency room, there were 14 beds lined up in the hallway with patients in them,鈥� he said. 鈥淭hey had no rooms to put them in.鈥� His mother remained in the hallway for over 24 hours before being moved to a larger room shared with 10 other patients, separated by curtains.
鈥淭hey鈥檙e overburdened because four hospitals have closed in five years in Delaware County,鈥� Gaspari said.
Mick agreed that hospitals are more crowded, leading to longer ambulance turnaround times. What once took 20 minutes to transfer a patient and speak with a nurse can now take over an hour.
鈥淗ospitals are getting overcrowded, and our wait time is longer,鈥� he said. As a result, ambulances are tied up waiting and unavailable for the next emergency call.
鈥淢onths earlier, we recognized immediately that our neighbors would need us if Crozer ended up closing, and that鈥檚 a responsibility we took very seriously,鈥� said Larry Hanover, a spokesman for Main Line Health, which operates Riddle Hospital and Lankenau. 鈥淲e have taken steps to ensure that all patients continue to receive high-quality, equitable care. Unfortunately, wait times have been affected by our unprecedented 50 percent increase in emergency department volume.鈥�
Hanover said Main Line Health has streamlined processes to improve patient flow and hired both clinical and non-clinical staff from Crozer to help meet the increased demand. 鈥淲ith the loss of Crozer鈥檚 trauma center, Lankenau Medical Center is among the region鈥檚 hospitals dealing with increased numbers of trauma cases.鈥�
Since April 30, a total of 10,382 patients have been transported by EMS to various hospitals from nearly every town in the county.
In Lower Chicheste , police response time is one minute and 20 seconds, said Gaspari.
鈥淭welve minutes, 15 minutes waiting for an ambulance鈥攜ou鈥檙e panicking,鈥� he said. 鈥淚 don鈥檛 like being in that situation. Honest to goodness, I wish I had a magic wand to wave and open up some hospitals鈥攁t least one of them.鈥�
How have hospital closures or longer transport times impacted your agency鈥檚 response and turnaround times on emergency calls?
漏 2025 Delaware Valley Journal, West Chester, Pa..
Visit .
Distributed by
