When it comes to ambulance response times, minutes or even seconds can be the difference between life and death. 

Here in Airdrie, the average response time for EMS crews in September 2016 was between 5-10 minutes.

"We dispatch our closest ambulance to every 911 call we receive in the best interest of patient care." said Nick Thain, Executive Director for EMS South.

According to Thain, some of the common factors that affect ambulance response times are weather, location, and the time it takes to process the call.

In September, Airdrie EMS received almost 200 emergency calls while almost 250 calls were deemed non-emergency.

For more information, visit the Alberta Health Services website.