LifeCare EMS, which provides ambulance service to Newton County, will begin dispatching its own ambulances July 1 in an effort to improve data collection and identify areas of service that need improvement.
In a regularly scheduled meeting of the Newton County Board of Supervisors Monday, County EMA Director Brian Taylor presented the proposed amendment to the county’s contract with LifeCare, explaining the county would be giving up ambulance dispatching authority.
“The reason they would like to do that is so they can keep track of the calls that come in and the sending of one ambulance or another,” he said.
Currently, Newton County dispatchers keep track of the three LifeCare ambulances stationed throughout the county, Taylor explained. While that data is shared with LifeCare, the provider would like to collect its own data to identify areas where additional ambulances or equipment may be needed.
Under the proposed change, Taylor said the county would receive any 911 calls, collect basic information and transfer the call to LifeCare to dispatch an ambulance.
“We’ve been the middleman,” Taylor said. “This takes some liability off the county,”
Supervisor Charles Moulds disagreed with Taylor’s assessment, saying the board approved LifeCare as the county’s ambulance service, which makes them responsible no matter who dispatches.
“You’re wrong. It won’t take any liability off us,” he said. “We got them hired.”
Moulds said it may take longer for problems to get back to the county, but the board would still have a responsibility to ensure residents have access to reliable ambulance service.
Although the board agreed the proposed dispatching change would not change the county’s liability, the supervisors agreed to approve the change and let LifeCare handle its own dispatching beginning July 1.
Newton County’s contract with LifeCare is up for renewal Dec. 31, 2019, and the board agreed to watch the ambulance service closely for the rest of the year.
“Six months to sink or swim,” Supervisor Joe Alexander said.
If the board is not satisfied with the changes at the end of the year, they will have an opportunity to renegotiate the contract for 2020.
