Atlas Twp. – Emergency medical response is getting better in Atlas Township, but impending changes could bring further improvement.
Ambulance response times, as of March 2004, are down to eight minutes in Atlas Township, and 8.57 minutes in the Village of Goodrich, says BruceTrevithick, executive director of Genesee County Medical Control Authority, partially due to an increased number of paramedics roving near Atlas, Davison, and Grand Blanc townships.
In 90 percent of cases, an eight-minute response time is successful in saving the life of a person undergoing cardiac arrest, said Trevithick.
While eight minutes may be a desirable ambulance arrival time, four to five minutes is an optimal time for trained Medical First Responders to be on the scene, says Steve McGee, Groveland Township fire chief and Oakland County Medical Control Authority member.
Currently, first responders of Atlas Township Fire Department are called to emergency medical situations only after the county’s central dispatch has spent five minutes seeking other help, says Lloyd Fayling, central dispatch director.
Atlas Township Supervisor Paul Amman says the five-minute rule has always been in effect, but it’s a point of contention with some local firefighters, who, according to media reports, have filed an unfair labor practice complaint through the Michigan Association of Firefighters.
Atlas Township Fire Chief Jim Naugler did not respond to calls to The Citizen to confirm a postponed hearing date for the complaint.
Fire department policies on emergency medical response vary throughout the county, said Fayling.
‘Quite a few fire departments don’t go on any medicals, some go on the five-minute rule, some go just on Tier I (serious), some go on everything,? Fayling said.
Another factor affecting emergency medical response time in Atlas Township is a Genesee County policy not to seek mutual aid from Oakland County, said McGee.
‘To me, I would hate a line to be the deciding factor if a loved one of mine lived or died.?
Potential help could come from a decision approved last week by the Genesee County Medical Control Authority Board regarding hours county ambulance bases are staffed.
Currently, nearby bases? like Swartz Ambulance in the City of Grand Blanc, Deerfield Ambulance in Davison, and Patriot Ambulance Service and Stat EMS in Burton’are required to be staffed around the clock.
Some county bases are found unstaffed, causing delays to Genesee County Central Dispatch operators trying to locate ambulances. Allowing an ambulance service to legally operate secondary bases only eight or 12 hours a day may allow companies to admit they’re unstaffed, so dispatchers can more easily find ambulances in emergencies.
‘Obviously the goal is to decrease response time. Otherwise we wouldn’t want them to do that,? said Fayling.
Jim Grady of Patriot Ambulance fears changes’which could go into effect as early as July 1’could actually make the wait for an ambulance longer.
‘Without some kind of guidelines I think it’s a really bad idea,? said Grady, who doesn’t anticipate Patriot will change its staffing. ‘If it drops down to eight hours I think we’ll see a lot of areas that did have an ambulance, not have ambulances.?
Trevithick feels changes in ambulance service staffing could prove positive in sparsely-populated areas like Atlas Township, since it’s less costly for ambulance companies to set up eight-hour ambulance bases in such areas.
The Village of Holly is still considering paying to set up a Basic Life Support ambulance base near Genesys Medical Center on Baldwin Road in Grand Blanc Township, which could improve response times, since central dispatch would have more ambulances to respond locally.
The decision to contract with Patriot Ambulance has been delayed since the Holly Village Council began investigating it last fall, but is still in the works, said Grady.
A volunteer ambulance base previously ran in Atlas Township from the Goodrich Lions Club hall on M-15.
‘The Goodrich ambulance didn’t work because volunteers were burned out,? said former Atlas Township fire chief Don Welch, owner of Welch Uniforms in downtown Goodrich.
‘People got tired of sitting there all day doing nothing.?
Local ambulance service is still possible if Emergency Medical Technicians (EMTs) respond to emergencies and provide transport through the existing fire department, says Welch and other area firefighters like former Flint fire chief Bob Elizondo, who now serves as assistant fire chief of Independence Township.
The department already owns a vehicle, says Welch, donated in 1998 by AMR ambulance.
A combined service would require training, licensing, insurance, inspections, and complying with county and regional policies on issues like mutual aid, said Trevithick.
Such a combined fire-ambulance department doesn’t currently exist in Genesee County, says Fayling, although the fire-ambulance service in Groveland Township is thriving.
The Groveland change first came about in the late 1990s, says McGee, when the average ambulance response time was 20 to 30 minutes. With 700 to 800 medical runs per year from local festivals, I-75 accidents, and ski emergencies, the department quickly became self-supporting.
Groveland firefighters eventually became trained as paramedics, offering advanced life support to patients. The service, run by four full-time and 48 paid on-call firefighters, charges its local residents reduced rates, McGee said.
To start a combined fire-ambulance service, the department should conduct a business study, recommends McGee, comparing the number of runs and the expected fee collection rate with projected department costs.
Ultimately, it’s up to residents to make a plea to the Atlas Township Board if they feel emergency medical services should be changed.
As far as Amman is concerned, no changes are on the horizon.
Both volunteer and private companies have failed in the area, he says, despite using a free facility.
‘We don’t have an ambulance, we aren’t going to get an ambulance, we can’t afford an ambulance,? he said.