Six Things You Should Know About Apple Valley's Ambulance Service

Apple Valley, Lakeville and Farmington jointly operate the ALF ambulance service—and have all contracted with Allina Health Emergency Medical Services to provide care.

On April 11, Allina presented its 2012 annual report at an Apple Valley City Council meeting. Without further ado, here are some of the most interesting takeaways from that meeting.

• The average patient served by ALF was 53 years of age.

• Only 11 percent of patients called for a traumatic injury.

• The busiest time of the day for ambulance service was between 3:01 p.m. and 6 p.m. The busiest day of the week for emergency calls was Monday, and the busiest month of the year was December.

• Allina Health Emergency Medical Services responded to 3,185 Apple Valley calls in 2012, with 768 calls in the first quarter, 823 calls in the second quarter, 804 calls in the third quarter and 790 calls in the fourth quarter of the year.

• That's a significant increase from the call volume experienced several years ago in Apple Valley. In 2009, the ambulance service fielded 2,415 calls, compared to 2,852 in 2010 and 3,083 in 2011.

• From 2009 to 2012, call response times have steadily decreased, from an average of 8:09 in the first quarter of 2009 to just over 6:57 in the fourth quarter of 2012.