STOCKTON, Calif. — A new ambulance system went live at 8 a.m. Friday in San Joaquin County, marking a major shift in how emergency medical services are coordinated.
One of the transition’s most significant features is a single dispatch hub in Stockton, where ambulance and fire operations are now unified under one system. Leaders say the change will be felt countywide as first responders prepare for the system’s first weekend shift.
“We’ll have all our operations for dispatch occurring in one dispatch center, so there won’t be two separate dispatch centers, one for the ambulance and one for the fire engine,” said Stockton Fire Chief Bryan Carr. “We’ll now have ambulances and fire engines that can see each other on the same platform in the same system. They can see where the others are at. They can speak to each other on the radio.”…