Illinois Suburb Expands Bicycle Medical Response Unit

A suburban Chicago fire department is making it easier to respond to those tough-to-get-to emergencies.

The (Arlington Heights) Daily Herald reports that the Downers Grove Fire Department recently added five people to its team that responds to medical emergencies on bicycle.

The department became one of the first in Illinois to deploy a team of two paramedics on bicycles in 1997. It’s grown since then to about seven. But with all the parades, races and festivals in town, the department decided the time was right to grow even more.

The bicycles that can carry about 30 pounds of equipment and medications allow the 12 paramedics to maneuver through big crowds and blocked off streets a lot easier than ambulances can.