AMHERST — Ambulances brought 30 patients from Amherst to Cooley Dickinson Hospital in Northampton during a four-hour period on the night of Halloween, with many of the calls related to alcohol consumption by college-age people, according to the Amherst Fire Department.
Describing it as “an extremely high demand for service,” the department called in mutual aid ambulances to deal with the strain on the system. From 10 p.m. Friday through 2 a.m. Saturday, there were 41 calls for service, almost all of which were for EMS.
During about the same timeframe, Amherst Police arrested or summoned 46 individuals to court on various charges, including disorderly conduct, being minors in possession of alcohol and violating the town’s open container bylaw. Many of these incidents occurred in neighborhoods near the University of Massachusetts campus.
Joined by Massachusetts State Police troopers, Amherst Police responded to a fight on Phillips Street near Nutting Avenue at 12:06 a.m. in which two people were arrested on charges of disorderly conduct. A short time later, a brawl erupted between several people at the corner of Phillips and North Pleasant streets, leading to five college-age men being arrested on charges of disorderly conduct.
In anticipation of a busy Halloween, the Amherst Fire Department hired additional staffing on overtime, putting 13 firefighters on duty instead of the usual eight minimum on duty. That allowed a fourth town ambulance to be in service.
Yet even with the additional staffing, 22 of the 41 calls required ambulances from other agencies, with requests made to Action ambulance in Hadley, Belchertown Fire, Easthampton Fire, Granby Fire, Northampton Fire, Northfield EMS, Orange Fire, South Hadley Fire and South County EMS. Many of the mutual aid ambulances handled multiple calls, in some cases responding to calls after returning from the trip to the hospital.
On-duty Amherst Fire personnel not assigned to an ambulance handled pending medical calls while waiting for an ambulance, using Emergency First Responder fire engines equipped with paramedic equipment.
Of the 41 calls, 23 were to the UMass campus, and three were to the Amherst College campus. Of the calls, 35 were due to a primary cause of alcohol intoxication, or other drug use.
In addition to the significant activity, ambulances responding to and from Cooley Dickinson were hampered for a time by a train that broke down on Damon Road in Northampton, the main route to and from the hospital.
The last mutual aid ambulance was cleared by 2:30 a.m. Saturday. On-duty Amherst personnel were then able to handle the continuing demand for service.
Various police agencies, including Amherst College Police and UMass Police, also responded to calls throughout the evening.
