Ambulance contract debate sparks fiery responses

The Western Carroll County Ambulance District will open bids March 23 in its process to see who gets the contract to provide ambulance service to the western part of the county. Eureka Springs Fire Department Emergency Medical Services is the current contract holder and has provided the service since WCCAD was formed.

WCCAD Chair Sam Ward said there have been problems in the past with compliance with the contract, and a majority of commissioners wanted to start over with a new one. Ward said the current contract calls for two ambulances with a crew to be available at all times to service the western end. However, Ward said ES ambulances have also been responding to fires, rescues and medical calls in Eureka Springs in violation of the contract.

Former Fire Chief Randy Ates mentioned it is a different situation nowadays because so many paramedics no longer live in town, so it is not possible for EMS to call in a third crew as easily, and the city does not have the funds to keep a third crew at the station. Therefore, ESFD cannot hold up its end of the bargain.

Ward said the public has the wrong idea about their intentions. He asked why commissioners would want to hire an incompetent service when they might need an ambulance just like everyone else.

Ward stated the paramedics at ESFD are also firefighters and Hazmat responders besides being EMTs. Ward said the rank and file staff at ESFD are “great guys,” but are caught in a bad situation. If they have to respond to a local fire, no one would be available to respond to an emergency in Grassy Knob, and certainly not within the required 15 minutes.

Ward pointed out the contract calls for EMS to respond to 90 percent of its calls within 15 minutes. He claimed the 15 minutes is a standard in the industry. He spoke very personally about response times and the effects of a slow response on family members tending to someone having a life and death emergency. He said first responders could do only so much, “so response time is pretty damn important.”

Ates added that only about five percent of ambulance calls are actual emergencies, and one-third are non-transport calls. Medicare, Medicaid and insurance companies usually do not reimburse unless the ambulance transports a person, so billing and collecting for ambulance service is an issue. He said the strapped financial situation of the city limits options for ESFD, and losing the contract would mean losing two-thirds of its revenue.

He said ESFD is “an absolutely stellar ambulance service,” and he does not want them to lose the contract, but understands Ward’s point of view.

Ward insisted the commission would not sell out ESFD for a low bid, but WCCAD wants to get what it pays for. “People don’t understand we [commissioners] are in this like everyone else.” He said they want to make a rational, informed decision, and once the bids are opened, they will have all the information.

Fire Chief Nick Samac said ESFD will submit a bid for the contract, and he hopes to continue providing excellent service to the western part of the county. He claimed they have made changes in their reporting and will continue to improve.

“Taking care of the public is Number One in our book,” Samac commented. He said people feel comfortable knowing there is a competent, professional service available.

Mayor Butch Berry recounted having a difficult time getting from the courthouse to the Grassy Knob fire station in 15 minutes, and noted there are points in the county even farther away. He was unsure if it was realistic to expect an ambulance to get to all parts of the county in 15 minutes or less, although he said, “We have the best ambulance system in the Ozarks.”

He also remarked experience is vital. “Our men know how and what it takes to get to Buck Mountain and other places where GPS is not dependable.”

At the Feb. 21 WCCAD meeting, Judy Thorpe, who lives in a remote spot in the southern part of the county, said she twice needed an ambulance, and the crew responding knew where they were going. She told the commission, “Don’t go with the lowest bid. Go with someone who has been here awhile, who knows what they’re doing, who worked their asses off to make it better for you.”

Mike FitzPatrick of the Eureka Springs rural first responders commented the restriction of having two ambulances remain at the station awaiting a call from the western side of the county limits capability of ESFD to respond to local emergencies. He hypothesized the scenario of a person next door at McDonald’s having a heart attack while the third ambulance is serving someone in the city. According to the proposed WCCAD contract, the other two ambulances at the station would have to sit in place instead of responding next door.

He maintained ESFD knows how to cover its responsibilities, and “WCCAD commissioners must not be allowed to interfere in the running of the EMS business by specifying how many vehicles and crews shall be kept on call and in reserve for the western district.”

David Barnes, a first responder for both Holiday Island and Eureka Springs, also spoke up at the Feb. 21 meeting to point out that in order to get to all parts of the county in 15 minutes or less, there would need to be ambulances strategically stationed and staffed in a triangle around Eureka Springs. The question is who would pay for that solution.