After several presentations to the Wayne County Board of Supervisors, Advance Life Support Director Jim Lee urged the board to start the ball rolling on a proposal for a County wide Ambulance Service.

Following a very detailed research plan, called the Fitch Report, a proposal for a County Wide transportation and EMS system was presented in January.

The prospect of additional EMS (Emergency Medical Services) within a system where the overall response times county-wide does not meet national standards would be a definite plus and a necessity for public safety in Wayne County, according to Lee, and County Administrator Rick House.

While still allowing the existing EMS agencies to operate and serve their communities when fully available, the County plan would work in conjunction with local EMS agencies. 

“This is a plan with a lot of moving parts,” stated the County Administrator. 

Even if we begin now, it would not be fully implemented for a couple of years, but we do see a downward trend in volunteer staffing, and that is concerning,” he added. 

As Jim Lee has described to the Board: when a County resident calls 911 during an emergency, they expect an ambulance to respond immediately, render emergency care, as well as transport the patient to a hospital. Many towns, even with local ambulances services, are not always fully staffed. That is why the County’s advanced life support fly car system was implemented. The fly car is a vehicle, fully staffed by paramedics, with defibrillators, medications and other critical care equipment. It can often be on the scene of a life threatening call before an ambulance can arrive. With the County Wide Ambulance service, each rig could be fully staffed with ALS, as well as serving as transport. If a town service is on another call, the vehicle is temporarily out of service, or a or a crew is not on duty, a County service would be used to augment services and lessen response times. Using the County Ambulance Service, with 4-5 ambulance bases set up around the county, each town, regardless of population, would be easily served in a timely manner.

Would a Town taxpayer have to contribute to setting up a County Ambulance Service?

Yes, local taxpayer monies along with federal funding (American Rescue Plan Act) would be used to establish the service.

The town governments would not contribute ongoing costs, however; the costs would be covered by County tax dollars, insurance companies and patient billing. Existing EMS services in

towns would still be able to respond if available. A call to 911 would expedite the closest available service. Callers would not need to choose between

services. Billing would come from whichever agency responds.

Where would the ambulance bases be located?

Ambulances would be strategically located throughout the County. The plan has not yet identified those locations. The Fitch EMS study recommended at least four or five bases to achieve response times of 15 minutes of less. “The 911 center would handle all calls seamlessly for call-taking and dispatching,” stated House.

Will the County Ambulance staff be a volunteer or paid staff?

According to the County Administrator, the staff would consist of paid County employees. Some local EMS services worry about losing staff to a new County service. House stated that it is not the intent the County to entice staff from local ambulances to come work for the County; however, it is possible that some people may want to come to the County to perform the same service they currently provide.

In addressing the Board of Supervisor last week, Jim Lee, Emergency Medicine physician Dr. James Syrett, EMS Coordinator Bill Liddle and Emergency Manager George Bastedo, responded in harmony.

“A patient or family does not care what the logo on the side of the ambulance says, they only care that someone is there to save their lives.”