On March 1 of this year, the Jefferson County Commission officially reorganized the county’s Emergency Medical Services (EMS) operations as a department reporting to the County Administrator. Previously, the EMS operations were managed by the Emergency Services Agency (ESA), an independent organization created to coordinate both fire and emergency medical services throughout the county. Read the Full Story >>
Emergency Services Agency
Jefferson County Ambulance Services Now Operating As County Department
As of 8 am on March 1, the Jefferson County Commission officially took on responsibility for ambulance services in the county. Read the Full Story >>
Ambulance Proposal Raises Alarms — Inside the Fitch EMS Report
Consultants' study recommends reductions in ambulance service, accuracy of data questioned. County Commission eager to proceed, citizens raise multiple concerns. Read the Full Story >>
Ambulance Response Times Explained
The report from Fitch & Associates recommends the adoption of standards from CFAI (Commission on Fire Accreditation International). Following the “rural” standards, the report indicates that the "goal time" for EMS unit response (turnout + travel) would be 15 minutes (the "benchmark"). The same standard also indicates an acceptable time of 19 minutes, 42 seconds. Read the Full Story >>
A Timeline of the Fitch EMS Report
Fitch & Associates is a consulting firm with many years of experience in assisting local governments in evaluating and improving both fire and emergency medical services. The County Commission contracted with Fitch in May of 2021 for a very limited review of the county’s EMS system — a basic analysis of ambulance response data. There Read the Full Story >>