Lodi’s first paramedic fire engine is not easing into its new role. In just its first six months on the streets, Engine 2031 has rolled on 128 advanced life support calls across the city and is already being credited with helping save dozens of lives, from cardiac arrests to major strokes.
Since Engine 2031 went into service as the Lodi Fire Department’s first Advanced Life Support engine on Sept. 15, 2025, crews say they have answered 36 cardiac arrests and 14 strokes, with multiple patients walking away from calls that might have ended very differently a year ago. The department says two more firefighter-paramedics are expected to be accredited by summer as it works toward putting a second ALS engine in service.
“We’ve already responded to 36 cardiac arrests, where 15 of those we had very positive outcomes,” Lodi Fire Chief Ken Johnson told CBS Sacramento. Paramedic Engineer Dylan Cahue, assigned to Engine 2031, described incidents where crews initiated advanced procedures at the curb and then stayed with patients all the way to the hospital, keeping one continuous medical team in charge of care instead of handing off midstream. CBS reported that these numbers were logged in the first six months of the ALS rollout and that fire crews were often the first medically trained responders to reach the scene.
Engine 2031’s First Six Months
Engine 2031 officially began providing ALS service on Sept. 15, 2025, according to the City of Lodi’s apparatus page, which lists it as the department’s first paramedic engine. City and department documents say the rig was outfitted with cardiac monitors and gear for advanced airway management, IV medications and other paramedic-level interventions, turning what had been a standard fire engine into a rolling emergency room…