Satellite ambulance or paramedic training?

January 14, 2009 by pamliconews

Carl Baxley, armed with documentation, disputed the county’s claim of a 12-minute average response time for ambulance calls.

Kathy Bohanan Enzerink
Pamlico News Staff

Pamlico County Emergency Management Service dropped one minute from its ambulance response time between Jan. 1, 2007 and Nov. 26, 2008, said David Spruill at the quarterly EMS Advisory Board meeting Wednesday, Jan. 7. According to documentation provided by the State, the average response time is down to 12 minutes.

“Our response time is not terrible,” he said. The 12-minute claim is not consistent with maps and travel time presented by Carl Baxley, who is lobbying for a substation to be placed at Fire Station 19 on Straight Road near Oriental.

“It is impossible for the Rescue Squad in Bayboro to respond to a call in Lowland, Hobucken or even Oriental and Minnesott Beach in 12 minutes,” he said. “You cannot get to the far corners of the county that fast.”

The county is 30 seconds slower than the state average between the time a 911 call is received and is dispatched. The delay, according to County Manager Tim Buck, is often caused by trying to find out where the emergency is located.

“We’re not that far off the state average and that’s a good thing,” said Buck.

“Our overall response time can be dramatically cut if homes and businesses use the reflective street number signs along the roadside,” Buck said. “Sometimes critical seconds are spent just trying to describe where the person is calling from when there is no visible address.”

Buck said it would take $50,000 “to shave 30 seconds off the response time.”

Dr. Stanley Koontz, EMS Medical Director, said the time it takes to get to the scene is cared about the most.

“We need to try to do the best job for the most people,” he said. “Everything comes down to money.”

Board members agreed a new substation in the southeastern part of the county would improve response time, but adding a paramedic would improve quality medical service.
Dr. Sue Lee, board member, asked Koontz which he would prioritize, a new substation or a paramedic. He immediately responded, “paramedic.”

Koontz defended his position saying EMTs, or Emergency Medical Technicians, cannot administer drugs or perform certain procedures, which could mean the difference between life and death. He described patients experiencing a stroke or seizure as examples.

Baxley, on the other hand, said the number of calls versus “response time is key,” with or without a paramedic. He puts the substation as priority number one over adding a paramedic.

“Once we do a satellite station, it won’t be the last,” said Buck. “We’re going down the right path.

Board members TW Harris and Barry Beauchamp were in attendance; Dale Holadia and Robert Mills were absent.

The Board meets again in April.

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