Rollout of Edmond's new ambulance service delayed
EDMOND, Okla. (KFOR) - A delay with a new ambulance service in Edmond has slowed down life-saving help from hitting the streets.
American Medical Response, AMR, was expected to start operating in Edmond on Tuesday. It was pushed back due to a licensing delay by the state.
"There is more of a delay than what was expected,” said Sarah Komes, AMR Edmond Operations Manager. “But they're working with us trying to help expedite."
The city said it made the decision to move to a new ambulance service after research showed longer than normal response times from its current emergency medical services.
"We just needed to go out and look to see if we could provide a better service for the residents of Edmond," said Chris Denton, Deputy Fire Chief.
Denton said Edmond was transitioning from EMSA to AMR, which had experience in parts of Oklahoma, but had never operated in the metro until this partnership.
The city approved the agreement in July and it was finalized in August. Since then, AMR has been building its operation from the ground up in Edmond.
"They had to hire personnel. They had to buy ambulance trucks. They had to have a headquarters,” said Denton. “It’s a very big process to start up an ambulance."
The agreement with Edmond and AMR is a one-year, $660,000 contract, with an option to extend the agreement another four years.
It will be paid for by the $3 monthly charge on Edmond resident’s utility bills. The operation had added nearly 50 jobs.
Long response times were the reason for the change and part of the agreement for AMR with the city was to meet certain guidelines.
For “priority 1” calls, or calls that need immediate medical help, an ambulance must arrive within 10 minutes and 59 seconds at least 90% of the time. For “priority 2” calls, or calls that are non-emergency, an AMR ambulance must arrive within 19 minutes and 59 seconds for 90% of the calls going out.
Despite the delay, AMR said it will be up and running by the new start day of January 23.
"We are definitely ready to go," said Komes.
Edmond will be covered for its emergency services through EMSA until the end of January.