June 2, 1998

EMAS officially without sponsor

       The emergency ambulance company serving White River Township is still trying to find a hospital sponsorship that will allow it to send paramedics to medical emergencies.  White River Township Fire Chief Mike Dutton said he will implement an alternative plan with the company, Emergency Medical Ambulance Service of Indianapolis, until a sponsorship is found.  EMAS was sponsored by Community Hospitals. Its sponsorship ended Thursday, spokeswoman Tenna Boone said.  The hospital cited no reason for ending the sponsorship, stating it was exercising its right not to renew the contract.  Dutton said EMAS can still provide basic life support in the state without a hospital sponsorship.  But the company has to remove all its advanced life support systems. To make up the difference, Dutton plans to send firefighters cross-trained as paramedics to perform advanced life support during emergency runs while EMAS would handle patients’ transportation to hospitals.  That means a fire department paramedic will ride in the EMAS ambulance to the hospital.  The fire department has 13 firefighters trained as paramedics.  “(EMAS) has treated us well, and we are trying to stick with them,” Dutton said.  Wayne Fletcher, director of operations for EMAS, said he expects to have a hospital sponsorship within a few weeks.  He said Community Hospitals did not state a reason for ending the contractual agreement.  “One of the questions we asked was if it (ending the agreement) had to do with patient care, and that was not one of the issues,” Fletcher said.  EMAS has been in operation for 18 years. White River Township firefighters have praised the efforts of the ambulance company. It replaced Rural/Metro Ambulance Service in the township in August.  Eric Brown, division chief for the fire department, said White River Township residents will not see a disruption in ambulance service.  “We aren’t really doing anything different except the paramedic will come off the fire engine,” he said.  (Reprinted with permission from the Daily Journal)

 

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