Knoxville, TN (WOKI) American Medical Response and the Metro Drug Coalition are leading a new initiative aimed at decreasing emergency response times in the Knoxville area.

AMR, which provides ambulance service to Knox County, together with MDC and several other agencies have formed the Mission District Medical Team to address, specifically, medical needs among the city’s homeless population which don’t actually require an emergency response.

The team is collaborating to offer services like wound care, drug resources and STI tests every Tuesday and is comprised of responders with:

• AMR
• The Knox County Health Department
• The Knoxville Fire Department
• Knoxville Area Project Access
• The Metro Drug Coalition

AMR has long pointed to the Mission District, the area on North Broadway underneath the I-40 overpass near Knox Area Rescue Ministries and The Salvation Army, as a reason for increased ambulance wait times.

Leaders behind the project said they are hopeful this effort will reduce the number of non-emergency hospital visits, in turn freeing up resources and improving response time.