County Ambulances Cut Response Time in Half

Posted on: Mar 24th, 2010 | Announcements

In the five years since its reorganization, Mobile County Emergency Medical Services System, Inc. (MCEMS) has cut its ambulance response time in half and increased its service volume by 75 percent ? all with a total cost increase to users during the five years of $69. ?We?re trying to be very, very good stewards with public money, and we believe we are doing that,? said Jeffery Carter, assistant director of MCEMS. The reorganization occurred during what MCEMS Director Mark Turner called ?extremely challenging times.? In 2005, the volunteer organization was down to 30 volunteers from 500 in the early 90?s. It operated with two ambulances to cover the entire county, excluding the city of Mobile which is a separate jurisdiction. The Mobile County Commission called in a consultant to help reorganize the unit as a non-profit entity under a new board and new agency management. It has made all the difference to the approximately 14,000 people who called for emergency medical services in the last year. ?Reorganization would never have happened without the County Commission stepping in and investing in our mission,? Turner said. Response time was cut from 20 to 25 minutes to 11 minutes, a challenging feat for the 1,000 miles of county jurisdiction the unit covers. The improved response time is a measure of the greater number of ambulances running - from two to seven today - and their strategic placement in the county. Meantime, the medical expertise of the staff has been uncompromising. Every ambulance runs with a paramedic on board, so people are assured of getting the highest level of care possible. MCEMS dispatchers also have top-notch training; they are the only dispatch service in the area that is triple certified. In all, there are 94 MCEMS employees; 68 are full-time. The county pays 40 percent of the annual operating budget for MCEMS; the remainder comes from direct billing of clients. MCEMS also works hard to be a part of the community. It has developed a strong outreach program at local schools, from elementary to high school level. Free CPR classes are offered to local citizens. It provides free wellness checks to the low-income and elderly population. ?As a non-profit organization, Mobile County MCEMS was able to turn its growing call volume into better service at a lower price,? Carter said, noting that the charges are well below corporate rates for MCEMS services. ?We?re doing a lot of operational things to make it work,? he explained. ?The extra revenue from higher volume doesn?t turn into a bonus for us. We put it back in the business.? ###