BUFFALO, NY (WKBW — As questions loom over ambulance response times in the city of Buffalo, representatives from American Medical Response are expected before the Buffalo Common Council, which will answer those questions in just under a month.

AMR is a third party ambulance provider in the City of Buffalo. They have been contracted to work with the city, although they have been working without a contract for three years.

But what do those response times actually look like? The 7 News I-Team has asked, but AMR refuses to answer.

Then Buffalo Common Councilman Mitch Nowakowski sent a letter to AMRThe 7 News I-Team has called response times to questions and has been working to find out how delayed ambulances actually are.

When asked about that information, an AMR spokesperson told the 7 News I-Team:

But why wait until September, especially if the public is affected?

The 7 News I-Team asked for a response time scale for:

• call between January and the end of July 2024
• the average response time
• the highest response time
• minimum response time

A spokesperson for AMR said no. When asked why, the 7 News I-Team was told,

SEE: Should Buffalo have its own ambulance company?

Buffalo may explore its own ambulance service because questions surrounding AMR contracts, response times

I-Team Investigator Ed Drantch spoke with Buffalo Police Commissioner Joe Gramaglia about AMR’s service in Buffalo.

DRANTCH: Do you see any issues with AMR and its response times?

GRAMAGLIA: There have been problems. I’ve heard it myself, especially during the day. It’s obviously a much busier time…I hear it on the radio – “you’re waiting in line for an ambulance” or “there’s going to be a significant wait.”

WKBW-TV

DRANTCH: What is the frustration for you, for your officers, especially knowing that lives are at stake here?

GRAMAGLIA: The EMTs and paramedics are extremely dedicated and work very, very hard. But when you have an officer that’s in an injury accident and they have somebody that’s injured in a car and the fire department is there and they’re doing what they can do…with the equipment that they have — you know that they It are all EMTs — and there’s only so much they can do, but when you hear there’s going to be a long wait for an ambulance, that’s a problem.

Gramaglia says this is something that needs to be resolved. But when asked if he thinks there shall be a city-run ambulance companythe commissioner said that’s something he’ll leave up to the fire department, mayor and city council to handle.

AMR is scheduled to appear before a Buffalo Common Council committee to testify on September 10.