By NEAL WAGNER / City Editor

Some new siren-equipped white, blue and red vehicles recently began rushing to emergency and non-emergency calls around Alabaster as the Lifeguard Ambulance Services opened a new location off U.S. 31.

Lifeguard began running emergency calls for Shelby County 911 and the Alabaster Fire and Rescue Department a few weeks ago. The company responds to every other emergency call requiring an ambulance in Alabaster, along with the Regional Paramedical Services company.

“Sometimes it’s three or four calls a day, sometimes it’s a dozen,” said Lifeguard Regional Executive Doug Tisdale. “It just depends from day-to-day.”

Lifeguard held a ribbon-cutting ceremony for its new location at 1123 First St. N. Suite B during an Aug. 30 ceremony. Tisdale said the company invested about $500,000 in the new facility, including purchasing two new ambulances, a cardiac monitor capable of transmitting EKG readouts to medical facilities and more.

In addition to responding to every other 911 call in Alabaster, Lifeguard also offers non-emergency services, Tisdale said.

“Give us a call if you just need someone checked out. We can even transport patients to doctors visits,” Tisdale said. “Obviously, if it’s an emergency, we ask people to call 911 instead of contacting us directly.”

For more information about Lifeguard, visit Lifeguardambulance.com or call the Alabaster location at 933-1911.