Vanderburgh County Commissioners are considering three proposals for emergency ambulance service. WNIN’s John Gibson has details:
AMR’s contract with the county expires at the end of this year and the company’s regional director, Paul Phillips, was first to present:
"We're dedicating three trucks to the county, strategically located."
As for the cost:
"Our subsidy ask is $1.87 million. We are also — I want to be very clear — we are looking for other opportunities to kind of spread out some of our fixed costs."
Vanderburgh County Fire Chief Adam Ferrar presented the county department’s bid, which also calls for three new ambulances:
"One somewhere close to USI, somewhere along St. Joe Avenue and close to McCutchanville's Fire Station No. 10, and somewhere close to McCutchanville's Fire Station No. 5 on Petersburg Road."
Ferrar says expanding the county’s ambulance service would cost about one-point-five million dollars:
"That would be to buy all the equipment to get it on the road and get it up and running, and then an annual subsidy of around the 1.5 but can fluctuate, based up on revenue cycle and how much is brought in."
County residents currently pay 42-cents on one-hundred dollars of property tax for fire and EMS.
Finally, the Evansville Fire Department’s Jarrod Brown presented a plan to expand the city new EMS service into the county:
"We're offering a fully functioning system that already exists, can be easily implemented, and can provide high quality service."
And Brown suggested the price is right:
"We would not require a tax, a joint territory, or anything like that to provide this service. We would not require any sort of subsidy."
The EFD already serves unincorporated parts of county, including Knight and Pigeon townships.
After the presentations, Vanderburgh County Sheriff Noah Robinson spoke of emergencies in far-flung parts of the county:
"Where response time is the primary factor. And it's painful, it's painful to have to stand next to someone who you know is suffering a medical emergency"
And he made a recommendation:
"And the only plan that I've heard here today that comes close to guaranteeing a fast response time with a proven track record of doing and standing behind what they say is the Vanderburgh County Fire Department."
County Commission President Justin Elpers also expressed concerns about response times and set the timetable for choosing the county’s next EMS provider:
"There's going to be negotiations and we'll have a special meeting before our next meeting. So, we'll have a little bit of time but come June 16th we'll make our final decision"
The proposals follow the city of Evansville’s decision to end AMR’s contract with the city.
The Evansville Fire Department will take over city ambulance service July 1st.
The EFD’s Jarrod Brown says the department has received six of its eleven new ambulances and three more are expected to arrive in a few days -- with the final two after that.
He says all the rest of the EMS equipment is in.
Brown also says new recruits are being trained during their time off from AMR or other service where they currently work.
He says the goal is to not affect any ambulance service before July 1st.