Fire trucks in Pike County could be equipped with life-saving automatic external defibrillators as another benefit of joining an emergency medical service district — in addition to every resident getting free med evac coverage.
Chuck Carter of Southeast Mississippi Air Ambulance District told county supervisors Tuesday that the county has $24,000 in Emergency Medical Services Operating Funds available.
He said county officials expressed interest in using the funds to provide another ambulance for the county, but Carter said the current fleet is relatively new and the funds wouldn’t be nearly enough for a new ambulance anyway.
However, the money, which is generated through $10 fines assessed to traffic tickets, could pay for eight to 10 defibrillators.
“It’s supposed to go either directly to the ambulance service or to the purchase of equipment,” Carter said, adding that volunteer fire departments could receive some of that equipment.
Carter said defibrillators are “as important as CPR.”
“It has to happen within the first few minutes of cardiac arrest,” he said.
Civil Defense Director Richard Coghlan said all of the volunteer fire departments have the devices, “but they’re getting some age on them.”
“A lot of times they’re the first emergency responders on the scene, and they get there before the ambulance,” Supervisor Robert Accardo said.
Supervisors voted last year to devote a half mill of taxes to join SEMAAD, which operates a helicopter that services Southwest Mississippi Regional Medical Center.
“When y’all did that, y’all brought that aircraft into the district because we already contracted with Medtrans,” Carter said. “Most importantly, it means the residents of your county do not incur any out-of-pocket costs to ride on that aircraft.”
The coverage is extended to the district’s 10 counties — Pike, Walthall, Marion, Jefferson Davis, Forrest, Lamar, Pearl River, Perry, Greene and Covington — as well as contiguous counties or parishes.
“You could be on I-55 and be halfway out in Lake Pontchartrain and still be covered,” Supervisor Robert Accardo said.
“It also extends to any other rotor wing aircraft that we are contracted with,” Carter said, noting that applies to Air Care from UMMC.
“If they flew down and picked up a resident for an inter-facility transfer, that benefit is extended to them as well,” he said. “It’s bigger than SEMAAD and it’s bigger than the 10 counties.”
Carter said the average cost of a flight to Jackson is at least $40,000.
“It’s a great savings for the citizens of Pike County,” Supervisor Sam Hall said.
Board president Lee Fortenberry said he knew a couple who had to use the helicopter and ended up being financially ruined.
“They lost their home over this,” he said. “They lost everything they had because their spouse needed to be flown to Baptist.”
