New ambulance for mental health crises

Illinois Times · Dean Olsen · September 9, 2026

Springfield Mayor Misty Buscher speaks during a Sept. 8 news conference unveiling a new Rescue 1 ambulance that will respond to drug-overdose and mental health emergency calls as part of the city’s BEACON Project. BEACON stands for Bridging Emergency And Community Outreach Network.

" data-large-file="https://i0.wp.com/www.illinoistimes.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/BuscherRescue1-1-scaled.jpg?fit=780%2C520&ssl=1" /> A Springfield Fire Department ambulance that specializes in helping Sangamon County residents during substance-abuse and mental health crises went into service Sept. 8.

The Rescue 1 ambulance, part of the city’s BEACON Project – which stands for Bridging Emergency And Community Outreach Network – represents an increased communitywide focus on mental health in the wake of escalating calls for service and the tragic deaths of Earl Moore Jr. in 2022 and Sonya Massey in 2024, officials said.

“At its core, BEACON is about connecting people with the help they need beyond the immediate emergency … so that we can look at what brought someone to the point of crisis and what we can do beyond the call,” Springfield Fire Department Chief Nick Zummo said at a news conference.

The new BEACON ambulance will be operated by SFD and with professional support from Memorial Behavioral Health mental health specialists. It represents a new approach for the city and a new service officials said will be available 24 hours a day to Springfield and the rest of Sangamon County for emergencies involving drug overdoses and behavioral health, Zummo said.

“As firefighters, we have all been on calls where we provided emergency care as needed but walked away knowing there was more going on and wishing there was more we could do,” Zummo said. “BEACON gives us that opportunity. Instead of the emergency room being the only option, we can take the time to determine what a person needs, connect them with the available services, and when appropriate, help them get to the right place for that care.”

The closest Illinois communities with a similar model are Rockford and Naperville, both of which have municipally operated ambulance services, Zummo said.

Supported by Springfield Mayor Misty Buscher and all 10 of the Springfield City Council’s ward representatives, BEACON could be expanded to a second unit in the next year if U.S. Rep. Nikki Budzinski, D-Springfield, is able to secure enough federal funding, Buscher said.

Local officials said the unit, staffed with SFD firefighters who have intermediate and advanced emergency medical technician training and additional training on mental health, will be able to provide more than the 20 or 30 minutes typically available when firefighters are dispatched.

Firefighters and Memorial Health workers will be able to spend up to several hours with patients to better understand their issues, help them connect with treatment, shelter and coping services, and avoid emergency rooms, though Fire Capt. Kainan Rinaberger said Rescue 1 will be able to transport patients to area hospitals.

“Our goal is to not transport,” he said.

BEACON likely will save and improve lives, he said. “It’s obviously serving a need that hasn’t been met,” he said.

Rinaberger, president of Springfield Fire Fighters Local 37, is one of the first 12 firefighters who will help staff BEACON. He said firefighters who staff the ambulance will receive a 5% boost in pay during those shifts.

Rescue 1 was purchased by the city with about $260,000 previously set aside for a city-operated ambulance service that would supplement what is provided by two private ambulance providers, Medics First and America Ambulance.

A full-service, city-operated ambulance service hasn’t gained traction on the City Council, but the city’s experience with BEACON could generate more interest, Rinaberger said.

The city’s annual contract with Memorial Health for professional services will cost $160,200. Funding from the city’s share of the national opioid settlement will help pay for costs of the program, Zummo said.

Rescue 1 will be based at SFD Fire Station 6 at 2121 S. 11th St., on the city’s east side. If a second unit is put into service, it likely would be based at a west side fire station, Buscher said.

The mayor said Rescue 1 “will assist our community when our mental health is not shining our best, or when our addiction takes ahold of us. It will be the beacon of light this community needs.”

Springfield police and firefighters, as well as Memorial officials, said requests for emergency mental health services are rising as the stigma surrounding mental illness slowly recedes.

Zummo said Rescue 1 could respond to about 3,000 calls per year.

Springfield Police Chief Joseph Behl said the BEACON ambulance will complement services provided through the police department’s “co-responder” program in which Memorial Behavioral Health counselors ride along with police to assist in responding to mental health crises.

That program is funded with a $2.5 million annual grant from the Illinois Criminal Justice Information Authority.

People going through mental health crises sometimes react negatively or become more agitated when they see an armed police officer, so Rescue 1 could satisfy a specific need, Behl and Rinaberger said.

A 911 call from Sonya Massey, 36, a woman with mental illness who suspected a prowler in the Cabbage Patch neighborhood in unincorporated Woodside Township, ended in tragedy in July 2024.

A tense verbal exchange with former Sangamon County Sheriff’s Deputy Sean Grayson culminated with Grayson shooting Massey in the face inside her home. Grayson, 31, was convicted of second-degree murder in October 2025.

Grayson, previously diagnosed with cancer, died in prison on Aug. 23 almost seven months after starting a 20-year prison term that could have been reduced to 10 years with good behavior.

In another Sangamon County case, Earl Moore Jr., 35, suffocated after being placed face-down on a LifeStar Ambulance gurney while under the care of an EMT and a paramedic who were summoned to his Springfield home by police who said Moore was hallucinating and reportedly going through alcohol withdrawal.

Rinaberger said Moore would have been treated better if Springfield firefighters had been handling his care at the scene.

Former LifeStar EMT Peter Cadigan, 53, initially charged with first-degree murder, pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter as part of a plea deal that ended the case. He was sentenced to probation and no prison time in June.

Former LifeStar paramedic Peggy Finley, 47, also charged with first-degree murder, is free while awaiting trial. Her next court hearing is scheduled for Sept. 22.

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