Ga. Ambulance Provider Wants Changes in Contract With County

Nov. 25--A committee overseeing Whitfield County's emergency ambulance provider has asked the county board of commissioners to change parts of a $1.5 million contract with Whitfield County Emergency Medical Services.

The EMS Quality Review Committee recently sent a letter to the board of commissioners asking for several tweaks to the contract.

"The committee is simply in agreement that no service can meet the current contractual agreement due to a host of everyday realistic and logistical issues," the letter stated.

The recommendations from the committee are:

--Change the contract zones from six to two, a city zone and a county zone.

--Change the response times. The city zone response time would be reaching patients in 8 minutes, 59 seconds or less 90 percent of the time. The county zone response time would be reaching patients in 14 minutes, 59 seconds or less 90 percent of the time. Response times vary among the six current zones.

--Remove exclusive use language from the contract and let Whitfield EMS use ambulances as needed.

--Remove from ambulances the signage, "Whitfield County 911 Ambulance."

Whitfield EMS Director Rick Cobb recently told the committee that shuffling ambulances among the six current zones is standard practice. The service tries to place ambulances near more active areas, but where accidents and emergencies happen are often difficult to predict.

Commission Chairman Mike Babb said the board received the letter but members have not discussed any possible changes to the contract.

"We've been working on the budget more than anything else so it kind of took a back seat," Babb said.

One concern Babb has is giving Whitfield EMS "carte blanche" on using emergency equipment for non-emergency situations.

"The county is in the emergency transport business," Babb said.

Copyright 2011 - The Daily Citizen, Dalton, Ga.