Tenn. County`s Ambulances Finally Ready to Roll Jan. 1

Dec. 25--The launch of the Shelby County Fire Department's ambulance service has been a lengthy exercise in attention to details following the approval in October of the venture by the County Commission.

The county will officially take over transporting patients on Jan 1. using leased ambulances before the 12 new county ambulances arrive later in January.

The new service has set in motion a new direction for the fire department, as it switches its focus to all levels of emergency medical service work, starting with the initial call and ending with the delivery of a patient to an area hospital, said fire Chief Alvin Benson.

"We've had to ramp up really, really quickly," Benson said. "Ideally, you have more time to start up a transport business, but we have been in the EMS business already. We had a number of staff persons who were already paramedics, EMTs (emergency medical technicians) and quite frankly we've supplemented and added support to the ambulance provider we have now."

Still, his department has had to create a new command structure, with former EMS commander Donald Fletcher now promoted to EMS division chief and the promotion of EMS lieutenants.

"The biggest piece was actually securing additional personnel," Benson said. "Probably the biggest challenge is finding paramedics out there to bring into our system to be ready to hit the streets January 1."

The county plans to hire 35 paramedics, who must all be trained as firefighters, and received 508 applications. There were also more than 1,500 applicants for a single dispatcher position.

Meanwhile, Benson's department is involved in more training for the existing staff, looking at models from other departments, creating radio protocols, reviewing new forms to fill out and familiarizing themselves with area hospitals.

They'll be staffed on Dec. 31 and ready to roll when the first call comes in after midnight on Jan. 1.

"We're in a good place and everyday I'm more and more comfortable," Benson said. " But I'll be spending my New Year's Eve at the fire department."

County public works director Tom Needham said, "We are in absolutely good shape. We're very pleased with what's going on."

In October the commission approved the creation of a fire-based ambulance service, a $5 million project that includes $2.5 million for 12 new ambulances. The expense will be paid through fire fees, which are expected to increase by about $4 for the average homeowner.

The decision to create the ambulance was made after contract ambulance provider American Medical Response asked for changes to its $1.7 million annual contract that could have cost the county $4.5 million.

The ambulances will serve unincorporated Shelby County, Arlington, Lakeland and Millington.

The fire department had hoped to have its new ambulances delivered by Jan. 1, but will instead lease ambulances for 60 days from Southeastern Specialty Vehicles for $290,268.

The new ambulances will be delivered in mid-January, Needham said.

"It will probably be the first of February before we put them on the street. Because once they get here and get stocked, we've got to get the state to come in and review and inspect and approve those ambulances," he said.

Overall, the ambulance service will take the fire department in a new direction, Benson said.

About 80 percent of the department's calls are medical in nature, he said, while the number of fire calls have dropped over the decades due in part to better construction codes.

"So what we've got to do, I believe, as a fire department, particularly in the EMS business, is to look at our model and put a 2016-2017 taste on that and ask what should our response model look like," Benson said. "How can I use all this to better serve our core business?"

First, he said, future personnel will need more training and every new firefighter hired by the department going forward will need at minimum an emergency medical technician license.

Benson doesn't have numbers to present, but in talking to colleagues has found that many other communities are shifting from contracted ambulance service to a fire-based service.

"I believe they are more concerned about the community's needs and the best interest of the community apart from any financial consideration, not that finances aren't a big deal because it takes money to run these systems. But they're not driven by that," he said. "When financial considerations drive decisions in running EMS systems, I think the EMS systems suffer. And I think many communities see that."

Copyright 2016 - The Commercial Appeal, Memphis, Tenn.