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Haynes, Care offer bids
Ambulance companies would charge for local dispatch
Published Tuesday, December 2, 2008
No matter who is the county’s set ambulance service provider, there will be two ambulance services available in Pike County.
The bids for the county contract were opened Tuesday afternoon, and both Care and Haynes Ambulance services are seeking the contract.
But, both have agreed to stay in Pike County regardless of who is the awarded service provider.
“We made a commitment to this county and the citizens of the county three years ago, and regardless of the contract, we will remain in Pike County,” said Care Ambulance Operations Manger Mike Sandell.
A few weeks ago, Haynes officials announced they, too, would be returning to the county after losing the county bid to Care three years ago.
“We feel like this is one of our home locations,” said Kirk Barrett, the chief operating officer for Haynes. “We’ve been here since 1987, and we’re looking forward to being back in Pike County.”
Both ambulance services offered two bid options to officials of the Pike County Commission and the cities of Troy and Brundidge. In order for a contract to be passed, all three of these entities have to approve the service.
Haynes offered two bids that will provide four ambulances stationed in the county: two with Advanced Life Support (ALS) service at all hours, every day, one staffed during the days and on call nights and weekends, and a fourth ambulance staffed as needed.
The first bid, which includes local dispatching in Pike County, would cost $6,250 per month. The second bid, which would include dispatching from Montgomery, would be at no cost to the county entities.
Care Ambulance, which holds the current contract and currently provides dispatching from Montgomery, offered a first bid at no cost to the county. This bid provides two ambulances staffed at all times with advanced life support care, two at peak hours (only one with advanced life support) and one on call when only two units are active. Dispatching would be in Montgomery.
In addition, Care has promised to station one of the ambulances in Brundidge during peak times and to provide a critical care helicopter available during the beginning of the year.
The second bid option varies slightly, with three ambulances staffed at all times, one basic service during peak hours and a helicopter, at a cost of $5,500 per month.
With either option, Care officials said local dispatch service would cost an additional $8,500 per month.
The bid also included charges that county residents would incur for calling emergency services.
Comparatively, Care will cost $600 for ALS emergency service, where Haynes would charge $500. For ALS non-emergency service, Care would charge $375 and Haynes $425.
For Basic Life Support services, those not equipped for the most severe injuries, Hayes would charge $275. Care charges will be $480 for emergencies and $330 for non-emergencies with BLS services.
Both providers would also charge mileage, Haynes at $9 per mile and Care at $10 per mile.
These fees don’t include any deductions insurance providers cover.
Also on the bid service providers gave required response times: if not met 90 percent of the time, drivers will be penalized.
For urban calls, Care said its ambulances would arrive no later than 10 minutes after dispatched, and Haynes said no later than 11 minutes, and for rural calls, Care and Haynes both said calls will be answered in 20 minutes.
Care, however, said in “super rural” areas, a 30-minute response time would be the limit.
The ambulance bid will expire Friday, Dec. 12. The Pike County Commission meets Dec. 8, Troy City Council and Brundidge City Council will be Dec. 9, and by the end of the week, a bid should be granted.
County Attorney Allen Jones said all areas of the bids will be considered before a contract is awarded.
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Comments
Posted by oldcampsite (anonymous) on December 3, 2008 at 1:09 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Penalize the driver??? I do not understand why it would be the drivers fault???? Does anyone know what "Chute" times are? Chute times begin when the call has been received. So the first and most important responsibilty is on the Dispatcher. Then relaying the call to the crew. Now what happens if its 2am, and the driver goes directly to the ambulance while the medic is using the facilities. Is it the drivers fault that the medic had to take 2 minutes to do this? A crew works together, but of course its alot harder to find medics than it is drivers. What you are going to have happen is drivers rushing down city streets to fast in a hurry to get somewhere and their mind is on nothing but his or her job and then you have a crash. What if there is a natural situation like a hurricane and there are trees down? Geez guys, I understand the need to get there quickly by all means, but this isnt something you need to elaborate on, just say, we strive to arrive within 10 minutes or something, otherwise, since its public now, when something happens, lawsuits are gonna fly. But here is the solution to this problem.
You build or arrange fire stations around town where there is no part of the city limits less than 5 miles radial wise from a paramedic engine. Now since we know for a fact the fire departments dispatchers are local, you dispatch a fire engine to the scene as the primary ALS medical unit. If one of the fire units is out on a call, you have another station move a truck in between or over to cover so that there is always an ALS engine within 5 minutes of the scene. Once the fire engine is sent, then turn around and dispatch the ambulance transport. There are only a few situations that a "load and go" are needed, so this gives the medics time to assess the scene, and begin to treat the patient while the ambulance is enroute. If the city thinks this is naive, they need to look around because fire departments are running EMS just about everywhere now. Then you wouldnt have this issue of response time at all in the city. Of course in order to do this, Troy would have to have 2 more stations, and if put in the right place, there would not be anywhere in the city a fire engine could not be in 5 minutes or less, saying traffic and weather is good.
Posted by blissfullygreen (anonymous) on December 3, 2008 at 8:02 a.m. (Suggest removal)
The old armory on Hwy 87 would be a great place for another fire station. That would also put an ambulance closer to that side of town.
We need the local dispatch--that has been proven over the past 3 years. Haynes needs to come back WITH A CONTRACT. I am glad we have a choice, but seriously, CARE hasn't earned the right to be here. They are the worst ambulance service in the history of Pike County.
There was an ambulance call right at the end of the Christmas parade Monday night. Had a local dispatch been available, they would have known to route the ambulance around the parade route. They didn't and the ambulance had to wait, then turn around and figure out how to get where it needed to go. Local dispatch would have avoided that.
Oh yeah, what is "peak" times? Someone can have a massive heart attack in Brundidge at 1:00 in the afternoon on a Tuesday. If you only have an ambulance stationed in Brundidge at "peak" times, which I am guessing are Friday and Saturday nights, what happens to all the people who need the ambulance other times? That is bogus logic and merely an attempt to get the town of Brundidge and the Pike County Commission to vote for CARE. Don't fall for it.
Posted by adamant (anonymous) on December 3, 2008 at 8:17 a.m. (Suggest removal)
There was a reason Domino's gave up on the" 30 minutes or it free" deal. Public safety folks. Let's not put the people responsible for health emergency calls in a situation where more problems are likely to be created.
Posted by timeforchange (anonymous) on December 3, 2008 at 8:17 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Hope Haynes gets the bid, maybe they can get to someone in need in the Goshen area. Last year had to call for help with a family memeber and after 30 minutes of waiting we took her to the hospital ourself. Care Ambulance did not show up until after an hour of us leaving, so that was a total of 1 hour and 30 minutes from time of the call. (Oh and this was after giving turn by turn direction to a person at Care. It should have taken them 20 minutes at tops to get here.)
Posted by turtle (anonymous) on December 3, 2008 at 8:36 a.m. (Suggest removal)
That is going to be a problem with any ambulance service and rural areas of Pike County regardless of whether you have a local dispatch or not. Just because people think of someone as "local" doesn't mean they know their way around Pike County. I've lived in Pike County my entire life and couldn't get to areas of Youngblood, Ansley, etc if I had to because I'm not familiar with those areas. Just like many don't know the backroads of Goshen, Henderson, or Josie. It doesn't really matter who gets the contract, it is the people they hire that make the difference. I wouldn't give you a penny for the ones we dealt with at Haynes. They were unprepared, unclean, rude and didn't have the knowledge whereas the ones we have dealt with through Care have been wonderful. We have never experienced the problems others claim to have had with Care. Personally I like Care but I'm not the one making the decision.
Posted by Invictus (anonymous) on December 3, 2008 at 8:40 a.m. (Suggest removal)
I have not had any reason to need the services of an ambulance (thank God), but it would seem to me that there will always be two sides to every "coin." You will always have some that like one and some that like others- every situation is unique and we aren't always in the know about the circumstances surrounding events that affect our lives. Having the opportunity to choose service now should effect the quality and service of the care you will now recieve.
Posted by Bamabunny (anonymous) on December 3, 2008 at 10:04 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Whatever ambulance company you choose to call in an emergency...know for sure there must be guidlines and policies and procedures...and they must be followed. Let's hope that if any emergency call comes in that "Joe" or "Mary" are not (for the moment) stuck in the jon and therefore holding up the response time. Of course getting to the 911 caller is crucial but the time of day is also a factor like "oldcampsite" mentioned...and he/she brought up some very valid points.
Why can't there be proposed areas where ambulance crews would be responsible for certain parts of Troy and Brundidge. This would make response times faster and easier. The Armory was an excellant idea. Instead of building...use an axisting building and put it to good use.
Things would be a lot worse had Troy Regional shut down. I think the town council can cut back a bit to afford housing for ambulance companies...and give them a break on rent and utilities for the sake of people in need of ambulance services.
Posted by cardinalwarrior (anonymous) on December 3, 2008 at 10:22 a.m. (Suggest removal)
bottom line.....Care needs to get gone!! there nothing but a big joke for pike county.they made all kinds of promises and statements that havent happened and want happen!! helicopter ???? what a joke they cant even staff the trucks they have and if they do they cant find there way out of a wet paper bag.folks you wanna see bad response times just ask anyone that has had dealings with them.when one of there drivers have to ask a police officer how to get the the hospital in Troy thats baaaaaad!! lets all hope Haynes gets the contract again and Care will eventually take a hike !
Posted by OldSchoolPike3Worker (anonymous) on December 3, 2008 at 10:37 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Ya'll can have then both. As for me just put me in a car and drive me to Montgomery. If I need more Oxygen, roll the windows down or something. At least I will get the right medical attention. I have experience with the slow ambulance service in Troy. But speeding the response time up just means a faster trip the the hospital in Troy where your rolling the dice on getting diagnosed properly anyway. This whole thing makes about as much sense as getting your flight mixed up at the airport and then blaming it all on the taxi driver that took you there.
Posted by Jack_Bauer (anonymous) on December 3, 2008 at 11:34 a.m. (Suggest removal)
If they take you to Troy Regional you are a goner anyway.
Posted by cardinalwarrior (anonymous) on December 3, 2008 at 12:14 p.m. (Suggest removal)
come on now guys have you experienced the new Troy Regional???Since its gone under changes i have to say first hand things are 100% better, the ER is pretty efficent !! they seem to figure out pretty quickly if they cant handle it they get you in the air and to a better facility!! Or they can call Careless ..i mean Care and they will get you transfered out but the downfall there is you may have to wait an hour till they can find the ER to get you gone .
Posted by Jack_Bauer (anonymous) on December 3, 2008 at 1:31 p.m.
(This comment was removed by the site staff.)
Posted by Mini14 (anonymous) on December 3, 2008 at 4:19 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Good old Scare Ambulance hasn't exactly been following the rules, state protocols allow the patient to choose the facility they want to go to no matter what, even if the paramedics discretion says otherwise. It's clear as day at the AL dept health and public safety's web site where the protocol is listed. Care doesn't tell you this because they don't want to provide staffing for additional ambulances when needed. Remember, you have a right to go to the hospital of your choice.
The submitted bid from Care stipulates that Brundidge must supply quarters at no cost for the ambulance crew to be down there. This is exactly the same as what is in the current contract written three years ago. Brundidge doesn't have any lodging available for them, so Care never furnished the ambulance. They put this in the bid because they know they will not have to staff it.
The helicopter is actually an Omniflight helo contracted to Care, whom will provide paramedics. This is ONE helicopter to service a 70 mile radius, meaning it will provide service from Montgomery to Dothan only if it is stationed in Troy or Ozark. If lodging is not available at either of those airports you will not likely see that helicopter in either of those cities. We already have three commercial Med Helo companies available to our county who have a much broader range of resources as well as military helicopter support from Flat Iron whom did a fantastic job during the tornado disaster in Enterprise.
Posted by Mini14 (anonymous) on December 3, 2008 at 4:20 p.m. (Suggest removal)
If we look back in the Messenger's archive we can look at the way Care got rid of local dispatch after being told not to by the council, a service they were contracted to provide. Since that time ambulance arrival times have suffered as a result of delayed dispatch times. The central dispatch did not add staffing to handle the additional areas, they simply cut resources to handle the same load. Dispatchers in Montgomery are far more concerned with handling their calls before handling Troy's for a reason, the city of Montgomery issues fines for slow service.
Placing penalties on drivers only encourages reckless driving, endangering motorists, pedestrians, patients and rescuers. A more efficient dispatch time combined with driver's knowledge of the road systems will help response times. GPS units can fail, paper maps are as reliable as they have always been. Technology has been a crutch Care has relied on when they bring in crews from other cities rather than calling in staff that are familiar with the area as needed.
Care is now offering a zero bid for services they are currently providing? Why didn't they offer a zero bid last time? Leaving the language as vague as possible will allow them to make cut backs at their discretion. Cut backs equal bonuses for those in a corporate infrastructure, they are only going to provide what they can get away with providing as we've all seen.
Accountability will be a big issue for the new contract. Whichever company comes in must have an open door policy towards our city and county officials and make available all run records and staffing rosters. This way we can assure the county and city are getting what they pay for, and the needs of our neighbors are being met.
EMS, like all public service, is not about making money. It's about protecting our friends, family and neighbors from disaster. Let's hope the decision that is made is the one that offers us the best service, not the cheapest. You get what you pay for.
Posted by joedirte2008 (anonymous) on December 3, 2008 at 4:45 p.m. (Suggest removal)
I agree with oldcampsite, but you want see anymore Fire Stations in Troy for a while. I believe the city will sell the armory to pay for the new library. The city wants you to be smarter, not safer. As far as CARE goes, it want change if they're in town. Where will the helo go? It'll probably get lost just like the ambulances. It's sad when it takes over 20 minutes to get to a wreck, and then not be able to find the hospital. If CARE doesn't get the contract, they want stay like they said. Some commitment Mike Sandell and CARE have made to this county. If you really want to know how bad CARE is, I imagine any police officer, fireman, or patient could tell you.
Posted by grannydee (anonymous) on December 3, 2008 at 6:04 p.m. (Suggest removal)
I really hate to go ambulance bashing but I feel the elected officials should know that the other day Care came to a friend of mine. She was really sick. The crew forgot there bag and drugs. She had to wait until another ambulance to bring them some medications. She was really sick. They thought it was funny. Also I heard from a current crew member that is a supervisor or so he said an employee that I asked about had been fired when asked a question. The question was what ambulance service do you want to serve Troy. His reply was the one that provides the best care to the people of Troy. And he was fired. If this is true it is sad.
Posted by jim_jones (anonymous) on December 3, 2008 at 6:35 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Okay, I'm going to get on my soap box for just a minute. Frankly I'm sick of reading about this and all of these silly comments. Its very obvious that most of you work for one or both of these companies, my question to you is if you know so much and you think your rite why want to you sign your name to your comments. Instead you get on here and take shots at these 2 companies behind your little cut nick names. I have lived in Pike County almost all of my life and have had to use both of these companies and did not have one bit of a problem. Its my openion if your not going to be man or woman enough to sign your name to your comments then shut up.
Posted by Mini14 (anonymous) on December 3, 2008 at 6:57 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Jim Jones should learn proper grammar and spelling. It's obvious to most with any amount of sense that employees of those companies have to remain anonymous until a decision is made or job security may go right out the window for them.
If you're sick of reading blogs then don't read them. Frankly, I'm sick of your atrocious typing.
Posted by fdavis (anonymous) on December 3, 2008 at 7:41 p.m. (Suggest removal)
AMEN mini14, I just enjoy reading it. More fun than watching the tube. Keep posting people, keeping away the holiday blues. Maybe instead of reading something you hate enroll in night school for spelling.
Posted by cardinalwarrior (anonymous) on December 3, 2008 at 10:29 p.m. (Suggest removal)
looks like we can all see that we dont need CARE in pike county! like i mentioned before if you only knew what went on behind the scenes!! lets just hope and pray we get the right service for Pike County and i seriously think Haynes can do the job!!They were here 18 years previously and you never heard many complaints. Haynes employee's were about 90% local people that also cared and loved the people of the city of Troy and Pike Co.
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