In Collier County, fire and emergency medical services (EMS) are provided very differently. EMS services are consolidated. Fire service is fragmented.
Fire Service
Fire service in Collier County is provided in a fragmented way that has slowly begun to consolidate. As the result of referenda on the 2014 ballots of voters in several of the fire districts, service today is provided by five separately-managed entities: Greater Naples Fire Rescue District, North Collier Fire Control and Rescue District, Immokalee Fire Control District, Naples Fire-Rescue Department and Marco Island Fire-Rescue Department.
The Fire Districts that serve unincorporated Collier County are overseen by Boards of Commissioners whose members are elected in nonpartisan elections by the voters in each District. Commissioners serve four-year staggered terms. The Naples Fire-Rescue Department and the Marco Island Fire-Rescue Department serve their respective incorporated municipalities and are overseen by their City Managers.
Find your fire district here.
EMS
The Board of County Commissioners established the Collier County Department of Emergency Medical Services in 1981. Unlike the County’s fire service, Collier County EMS is a consolidated agency that provides emergency medical services for the cities of Naples, Marco Island, Everglades, as well as all unincorporated areas including North Naples, East Naples, Golden Gate, Big Corkscrew and Immokalee.
Collier EMS strategically places ambulances throughout the 2,025 square miles of Collier County for quick response capability. Many of EMS’s 200+ paramedics and emergency medical technicians are cross-trained as firefighters.
Currently, Collier EMS runs 25 stations with 26 full time ground transport ambulances as well as two MedFlight helicopters available for emergency response 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
While fire does provide medical services when they arrive first on the scene, once Collier EMS arrives, they have the higher medical authority.