LIBERTY — Amite County supervisors are raising concerns over ambulance response times in the eastern part of the county, noting that the primary ambulance service there is often unable to quickly respond, and another ambulance service seldom picks up the slack.
Discussions over response times arose on Monday as supervisors discussed approving a memorandum of understanding between American Medical Response — the county’s primary ambulance service provider — and Franklin County-based Rural Rapid Response, which is offering its services to pitch in when needed.
AMR operations manager Tim Houghton told supervisors that his company is agreeable to a proposed memorandum of understanding with Rural Rapid Response. If approved, the agreement would allow the two ambulance companies to assist one another with calls in each other’s service areas. Supervisors are expected to take up the matter later this month.
But officials had questions about reports of long response times from AMR in the eastern half of the county.
“What happens when there’s a call in the eastern part of the county. How do you guys respond to that? Do you contact Pike County?” board attorney Reggie Jones asked Houghton.
Houghton said calls from that area that merit serious attention are “rolled over” to AAA, Pike County’s primary ambulance service. He said the two companies have an agreement to assist each other.
However, whether AAA will respond at all depends on several factors, including how busy the service is at the time and the location from which their ambulances are dispatched.
“They will beat us all day long. Even with superchargers on our trucks, even if we could drive 150 mph to get there, we wouldn’t be able to make it there before them,” Houghton said of AAA. “Some of those calls are 8 to 10 miles away from the hospital, sometimes less than that. We, on the other hand, often have to travel 18 to 24 miles to get there.”
Houghton said AAA will often turn down calls, which can delay response time that can be critical in life-threatening situations. He said AAA responded to just one of about 50 calls when needed.
AAA officials did not return calls seeking comment.
District 4 Supervisor Butch Graves, whose district is affected by the issue, brought up the complaint of a resident who lives about 8 miles west of Southwest Mississippi Regional Medical Center.
“There was a man out cutting grass and he collapsed. Someone driving by saw him lying on the ground. It turns out he passed out from a low drop in blood pressure. When they called you guys, they were told it would be 45 minutes to respond. They wanted to know why no one from McComb responded,” Graves said.
“As soon as we know their service will beat ours to the destination, we will roll the call over to them. Then, it is up to them to take the call,” Houghton said.
In another matter, a fatal two-vehicle wreck on Thompson Road that also resulted in several people being taken to the hospital drew complaints from the victims’ family member.
“They wouldn’t come get them. They would not come get them. They flat out said no,” Lora Gillard, the mother of one of the accident victims, told WHLT-TV in Hattiesburg last month.
Houghton said he understands that AAA can’t make all of the requested calls for services.
“They have a pretty busy system over there. They’re running,” he said. “It’s difficult for them. It’s not standard practice to leave your backyard, and to go out of the zone you are responsible for. Sometimes, you can’t.”
Houghton said he suggested to the board when AMR signed a contract with the county in 2008 that qualified EMS personnel be allowed to use their own vehicles to respond in serious cases, which he said could possibly mitigate life-threatening situations.
“Much of what they do is paramedics work, which the ambulance crews would be doing anyway,” he said. “I brought it up before and when we first came into the county wanted a first responder system, but it was turned down.”
Houghton said most ambulance services operate on an understood agreement.
“There will always be a time when ambulance services need to work together. That’s usually how it works,” he said. “We operate on an understood friendship.”
Houghton added that AMR has assisted AAA with calls in Pike County in the past.
Regarding the memorandum of understanding between AMR and Rural Rapid Response, both companies must agree to the understanding before presenting it to the board of supervisors for final approval.
In Amite County’s case, Rural Rapid Response owner Tyler Blalock must then agree to stipulations from the board.
“We have never refused any MOUs, it’s a very good practice. I would strongly recommend the board go ahead and accept the one offered by Mr. Blalock,” Houghton said.
