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Increasing ambulance calls are straining the county’s resources, county fire chiefs told commissioners Monday. Commissioners held a workshop to discuss ambulance service after hearing complaints from some fire departments.
Coming up with money to improve it will be difficult, they agreed.
Buddy Mann, president of the Kaufman County Fire Chiefs Association, said some areas are seeing waits as long as 40 minutes for an ambulance. In general the local fire department responds to emergency calls, providing emergency care until an ambulance arrives.
“We’ve got volunteers going away from their jobs and waiting 20 or 40 minutes for an ambulance and they are not getting paid,” said Chief Mann, of the Ables Springs volunteer department.
He said he’s seen an ambulance respond to a call in Terrell from as far away as Crandall.
Officials of ETMC, the company who contracts with the county, Terrell, Kaufman and Forney, said they understand the concerns but that the percentage of calls taking more than 20 minutes has remained at about 4 percent for the last several years.
Chief Mann and other chiefs praised ETMC, saying that the paramedics on board the ambulances were excellent and that there was close cooperation between fire volunteers and the company. Their concern has been erratic response times – some with 5 to 10 minutes, others as long as 40 minutes.
The chiefs and officials agreed that requests for ambulances are increasing, straining the system for residents and the company.
ETMC receives no money from the county or cities it contracts with. All income comes from payments from patients actually taken to a hospital. Even with the increasing county population, the number of transports has remained about the same for three years, even though the number of calls for ambulances is increasing.
The number of calls increased by about 500 from 2006 to 2007, company officials said, even though the number of tranports remained about the same. The company makes no money if it answers a call but doesn’t take a patient to the hospital.
Right now, the company estimates a profit of only $1,000 in the county this year, said Anthony Myers, ETMC/EMS chief operating officer.
“We basically lose money in this county,” Mr. Myers said. The company stays in the county hoping that future growth will bring profits.
Improving response times would mean putting one or more additional ambulances in the county, and that would be expensive, as much as $500,000 a year.
“We can put an ambulance in every town and every little village…if people want to pay for it. But people don’t want to pay for it,” County Judge Wayne Gent said.
The county has 5 ½ ambulances -- one in Mabank can be used if necessary -- stationed around the county. When one is sent on a call, a dispatcher may move one from another station to help provide more even coverage. But that system can fail if several of the emergency response vehicles are called at the same time or a dispatcher misjudges where an ambulance may be needed.
Judge Gent said flatly that the county will not provide any county money for more ambulances. “Right now we’ve got a good financial situation for Kaufman County and I don’t want anybody jacking with it.”
One option would be for the seven emergency service taxing districts to provide money for an additional ambulance. Most of the county’s cities are covered by these districts which provide money to the volunteer fire departments.
“There are seven emergency districts,” Chief Mann said, “if each gave 30 grand that would add up.”
He said the chiefs have not asked the emergency districts, whose members are appointed by commissioners, for any money for ambulances. But that may be the next step.
© Copyright 2005-2007 by Kaufman County Online
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| Last Updated: Aug 13th, 2008 - 22:48:38 |
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