Dispatch times are down and Springfield firefighters are making fewer emergency medical service calls 90 days after the department adopted new response protocols.

A review of the changes, implemented Aug. 18, shows the average time it takes for firefighters to be dispatched to life-threatening calls was 1 minute and 24 seconds -- a drop of 58 seconds compared to the same period in 2007, the department said Thursday in a news release.

The number of medical calls the department responded to also was down 28 percent, as firefighters responded to fewer calls that were not life-threatening.

A similar review 30 days after the new protocols were adopted showed a 30 percent decline in medical calls. Dispatch times for life-threatening calls dropped an average of 54 seconds during the same period.

The revised protocols were developed as a cost-saving measure and are designed to reduce the number of nonessential medical calls made by fire crews.

In the past, firefighters were automatically dispatched only in cases of cardiac arrest, motor vehicle accidents with confirmed injuries or industrial entrapment. Otherwise, ambulance services run by CoxHealth and St. John's could request fire department assistance when it was deemed necessary.

Under the new protocols, fire crews are notified automatically when a 911 caller's chief complaint includes any of 10 specific criteria, including uncontrolled bleeding, imminent childbirth, gunshots, burns or drowning.

The department is scheduled to conduct further follow-up reviews in February and August 2009.