Amherstburg and all of Windsor-Essex will soon see faster help in life-or-death moments after Essex County Council voted June 3, 2026 to spend $2.58 million on nine new ambulances and two rapid response units.
The County of Essex says the money covers seven ambulances that need replacing in 2027 plus two extra ambulances and the two single-paramedic response units to keep up with growing call numbers.
Those rapid response units are built for the seconds-when-it-counts emergencies: heart stops, choking, someone not breathing, unconscious patients, and severe trouble breathing. A single paramedic in a smaller vehicle can get there right away and start care without pulling a full ambulance off the road.
Essex-Windsor EMS answered 68,420 calls last year, up 4.4 percent from the year before. Over the first three months of 2026, the time paramedics spent waiting at hospitals to hand over patients dropped by more than 1,000 hours compared to the same stretch in 2025.
When the new vehicles arrive, likely in spring or early summer 2027, the fleet will total 46 ambulances and 22 emergency and support vehicles. The $2.58 million will come from the service’s equipment and vehicle savings, not a new tax hit, and be part of the 2027 budget.
The purchase is the latest step in a wider buildout. Early in 2026 the county put $11.48 million into three properties for a new paramedic headquarters and two satellite stations on the east and west sides of Windsor.
