Board Discusses EMS By David Howell, Editor North Mississippi Herald
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Board Discusses EMS
By David Howell, Editor North Mississippi Herald
Concerns about the response time for an ambulance crew answering a medical call in Coffeeville on March 22 were put to rest after camera footage substantiated the times documented in the dispatch call log. The crew responded from EMS headquarters in Coffeeville, located on the west side of Main Street, to Arrington Medical Clinic, located on the east side of Main Street directly across from EMS, in less than three minutes. Yalobusha General Hospital Administrator Jessica Embry provided details about the response during the April 1 supervisor meeting. Embry told supervisors that she reviewed the camera footage recorded at the EMS headquarters and at Arrington Medical Clinic. She said the crew was dispatched at 2:51 p.m., responded at 2:53 p.m. and was also on scene at 2:53 p.m. “I pulled our call log from that call on March 22. Then I watched our cameras to back up the times. The phone call came in at 14:51 from Arrington Clinic. Dispatch dispatched our EMS crew at 14:51. We were in route at 14:53. I watched our cameras, they came straight out of the EMS building in Coffeeville and got into the truck. They were on scene at 14:53,” Embry told supervisors. The matter was initially discussed during a supervisor meeting on March 27 after District 4 Supervisor Eddie Harris reported concern in the community about the response time estimated as much as 10 minutes. Embry and EMS Director Linda Cox attended Monday’s meeting at the request of supervisors to review the response time. “There were a lot of folks in the community who were upset and thought the ambulance that was right across the street should have been there faster,” Harris told Embry. Supervisors and Embry noted that seconds can often seem like minutes during an emergency, likely prompting public scrutiny about the response time. “It is a lot of racket out there, but I do understand what the call log shows,” Harris added. Discussion during the March 27 and April 1 meeting included additional details leading up to the call starting with an elderly man fishing at Grenada Lake who experienced a medical emergency. He was transported to Arrington Medical Clinic in a private vehicle. Health care workers at Arrington Medical Clinic immediately called 911 to request an ambulance and started CRP The man expired before he could be transported to a hospital. Embry encouraged county officials to immediately reach out with future concerns about medical calls. “Before we get to everything festering and brewing, call Ms. Linda (Cox). I have worked with her for 16 years, she will investigate and look into every situation,” Embry told supervisors. “Because we don’t want this talk on the street.” “I heard the call. Had it been some time lapse, I would have been on the phone calling them asking what is going on. But there was no time lapse,” Cox added. Both Board President Cayce Washington and Harris also noted that a courthouse employee monitors medical radio traffic and can see the EMS headquarters from the office window. “When they (paramedics) say they are in route, they are standing out there smoking a cigarette,” Harris said about the courthouse employee’s observations. “But that is just hearsay, I don’t have any facts on that.” “Tell them to call right when it happens,” Embry said. “We encourage that, we want to be better.” “We really weren’t blaming anybody, but I caught a lot of flak over this. I live in Coffeeville… and going in the grocery store or church and people are asking about the ambulance,” Harris said. “When I get that flak, I have to let the other guys (supervisors) know what is going on.” “The word was it took them 10 minutes, but now the video disputes that,” District 5 Supervisor Gaylon Gray said. “I can watch them coming out the back door and getting in the ambulance. They went straight across,” Embry reiterated about the camera footage. “Our job is to provide EMS services,” Washington said about the county’s obligation to fund ambulances for medical calls in a contract with the hospital. “And y’all do a great job,” Washington added as discussion on the matter came to a close.
