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Poor road conditions caused by the recent snowfall may cause emergency workers to take longer than usual to respond and cause them to arrive by unfamiliar means, but they will get there, officials said Monday.

The number of emergency calls since the weekend's snowstorm, which dumped up to 32 inches on Prince George's County, is starting to die down, but public safety workers are still facing significant challenges in responding to service requests, officials said.

"Getting stuck has been a regular occurrence," Mark Brady, spokesman for the Prince George's County Fire/EMS Department, said of the fire engines traveling on snow-covered roads.

As of Monday, about 50 percent of the residential side streets in the county had not yet been plowed from the snowstorm that coated the region Friday and Saturday. An additional 10 to 20 inches was predicted to fall beginning noon Tuesday through Wednesday evening, according to the National Weather Service reports.

After fire apparatus began getting stuck on side streets, the fire department began sending four-wheel drive vehicles into neighborhoods to check street access before sending in larger equipment, Brady said. When emergency vehicles did get stuck, plows assigned to the fire department were deployed to help.

"I don't care what kind of vehicle you have, short of a tank, you won't be able to access some of the neighborhoods," Brady said.

Volunteer and career personnel have started putting their personal four-wheel-drive vehicles in service to ensure each department has a vehicle that can accompany crews when they respond to calls, he said.

"Don't be surprised when a pickup truck shows up after you call 911 for chest pains," Brady said. "Paramedics will load you in that pickup truck and take you out to an emergency vehicle parked on a cleared side street."

The department received 474 calls for service Friday, 752 on Saturday and 596 on Sunday. An average day would consist of about 375 calls, Brady said. On Saturday, the department received 194 reports of downed power lines or transformers.

Maryland State Police responded to 56 traffic accidents from Friday night to Sunday night in the county, said spokesman Greg Shipley. No traffic fatalities had been reported by Monday afternoon, Shipley said, but in 37 of the accidents, individuals were injured or there was enough damage to a vehicle that it had to be towed.

"We continue to have crashes that are occurring because people are going too fast and running up on snow banks," Shipley said Monday. "People are venturing out, and many of them are not using good judgment."

County police also said there were no major incident reports over the weekend. Routine patrols were suspended Friday night and will not resume until the residential streets are safe, said Henry Tippett, a police spokesman.

Police have been taking minor police reports over the phone and traveling in the department's four-wheel-drive vehicles when an onsite police presence is needed.

"It has to be some type of emergency like a domestic situation or robbery for us to respond," Tippett said.

He did not know how may calls the department had received over the weekend.

State police have also been using four-wheel-drive vehicles or riding in Humvees with the U.S. National Guard, Shipley said. The majority of the calls that the state police have received were for reports of disabled vehicles.

Vehicles abandoned on state roads and interstates are being towed and stored by Maryland State Police to better facilitate snow removal by the State Highway Administration. As of Sunday night, 33 vehicles had been towed from state roads in the county. Drivers whose cars have been towed should contact the state police barracks in Forestville at 301-568-8101 or in College Park at 301-345-3101 to reclaim their vehicles.

While anxiously awaiting the next round of snow expected Tuesday, officials urged residents who do not need to be on the roads to stay patient and wait at home until roads are cleared.

Some residents expressed concern that the plowing effort was taking too long and would pose a risk for those with health problems.

Woodmore resident Dulce Summers, 86, said the streets in her Woodmore neighborhood had not been cleared by Monday afternoon and she expected to run out of medication she needs for a heart condition that night.

"Last time I tried to shovel out myself, and I became short of breath," she said of a snowstorm Dec. 19 that brought about 19 inches of snow to the county.

She said a neighbor would be able to help her get to a pharmacy.

Brady said the department has been receiving a higher number of calls than they normally would for issues like a lack of medication. Due to the overall high call volume, he said the department has deferred some of the calls to the American Red Cross.

Medic units have been using whatever means necessary to reach patients, but Brady advised if residents have a medical condition that requires help that they call 911 sooner rather than later because it could take medics longer than usual to reach them.

The fire department currently has two Humvee ambulances that were borrowed from the Maryland National Guard. Brady expected the department to request more to be able to make it through the anticipated snowstorm Tuesday.