Ambulance Oversight Committee Discusses Zero Status Time for Ambulance Coverage

Committee members heard of a crash in the east part of the county handled by Montrose firefighters. The firefighters dealt with those injured in the crash, but had to wait on ambulance service for some time. County Board member Joe Thoele was present for Tuesday's meeting, since he said the firefighters gave him an earful, and he wanted to know what had happened.

The calls from March and over the past weekend were reviewed, with a handful of calls involving "status zero", in other words, no ambulance coverage. Most were only a few minutes in length, but the call at Montrose was of considerable concern.

Abbott EMS, the County's ambulance service provider, has made schedule changes in the past month and has Jasper County Ambulance Service as their backup in case Abbott is covered up with other calls. Abbott indicates they have had coverage more than 99% of the time since they made the schedule change.

County Board member Rob Arnold, though, said, "I think our goal is to make sure there is no 'status zero' time". Arnold said he appreciates Abbott's need to be profitable, but said, "We are comparing business with lives."

There is also no resolution to a long-standing situation where the local 911 system can't monitor where Abbott's ambulance are and Abbott's system isn't compatible to the 911 system. Arnold said, "Let's get a closed loop so 911 can at least know where the rigs are, even if they can't communicate with them."

All information has indicated that when a rig hasn't been available, it's because they have been on other calls. Also, Abbott's schedule change provides three rigs on duty 24 hours a day and one other rig on duty until after midnight. Committee member Mike Schabbing suggested the service needs "one more 24-hour rig."

There was discussion about holding next month's Ambulance Oversight Committee meeting at Abbott's new home on North 3rd Street in Effingham. Abbott's representative indicated they will be holding an Open House at the location at the end of this month.

There was also discussion about the resumption of construction work on the interstate, and the difficulty that could cause rigs should a traffic tie-up result from a crash. Committee Chairman Mike DePoister said he had already trouble getting one of his wreckers through a gate put in place to control access through the construction zone.