Ambulance Oversight Committee Presses to Eliminate Any Gaps in Service

Members of the Effingham County Board's Ambulance Oversight Committee Tuesday decided to seek more definitive information as to ambulance calls in an effort to make sure proper service is being rendered to county residents.

There was discussion about Status Zero calls, but also how long a Status Zero situation exists. Status Zero situations occur when no ambulance is available. 911 System Administrator Tina Daniels said there have been three such situations since a meeting of most of the parties involved in emergency services several weeks ago. Daniels said three such situations have occurred, one of which saw a lack of service for more than an hour.

Committee member Matt Sager told the group that "we need to track calls. We need to know when they get dispatched, when they get en route to answer a call, and when they reach the destination." Having that information can aid the committee in knowing whether further steps need to be taken.

A couple of committee members also suggested that what they discuss in committee is not making it before the full County Board. Sager even suggested that at the end of each meeting, the committee members could give committee chairman Rob Arnold direction as to what to share with the Board each month.

The County Board's current contract with Abbott expires at the end of April in 2022. Arnold said the time is drawing near to start seeking proposals on a new contract. Arnold said, "We need to start discussing what we want" in the next agreement. He'd like to have the proposed agreement developed by July, allowing time for vendors to submit their proposals and for the Board to have those proposals fully vetted. Arnold said there would need to be time if a new vendor is selected for an orderly changeover.

Effingham Fire Chief Bob Tutko, a committee member, suggested that the emphasis in the next contract needs to be on emergency calls, and to let the free market decide how non-emergency calls are addressed.

The county's contracted ambulance service, Abbott EMS, reported Tuesday that they have made additional ambulance rigs available, but a problem is a lack of ambulance attendants. To address that, Abbott is offering "Earn While You Learn", a program where Abbott will get up to 10 people sponsored to go to school with Abbott paying their tuition. Abbott will ask for a one-year commitment from those sponsored. The company will work with Lake Land College to train EMTs at 15 hours/week for eight weeks.

The committee also decided to return to monthly meetings, rather than quarterly. The next meeting will take place at 1:30pm on March 9.