IBM to Send Six Consultants to Memphis to Study Fire and EMS Calls
May 12—IBM will send a team of six consultants to work with a Memphis Fire Department emergency medical services team to find solutions to a problem that costs the city money—and could cost lives.
Memphis is one of 16 cities worldwide to receive an IBM Smarter Cities grant, it was announced Monday in Las Vegas. The IBM aid, which the company values at about $500,000, will address the growing number of nonemergency calls to the fire department for medical services and transportation to the hospital.
The intent is not to take away services from those in need, but to find other resources and outlets for those who turn to EMS when emergency assistance isn't really needed, Mayor A C Wharton said at a Tuesday news conference.
MFD responded to about 120,000 emergency medical calls in 2014, but about 25,000 of those were not emergencies.
Ambulance calls are billed at about $800 each, which many people can't pay, fire director Michael Putt said.
IBM has also made Memphis one of three cities worldwide to receive a Twitter grant that will help the city track complaints and collect other information.
That grant includes another consultant and is valued at about $50,000.
Copyright 2015 - The Commercial Appeal, Memphis, Tenn.
