By Ryan Lewis
Chattanooga Times Free Press
JASPER, Tenn. — When Jasper Middle School Principal Ramona McEntyre was seriously injured on her farm on Dec. 11, it took almost an hour and a half for help to arrive, her husband said.
“When she was initially hurt, we weren’t sure of the extent of her injuries, but as time progressed it was obvious she was in distress,” Tommy McEntyre said. “She got to the point where she had almost stopped breathing, and ultimately, it was an ambulance from Sequatchie County that responded. She was airlifted to Erlanger [hospital].”
McEntyre said his wife suffered a crushed knee and seven broken ribs as a result of the accident that occurred about nine miles from Grandview Medical Center, which operates Marion County’s ambulance service.
McEntyre brought the issue to the Marion County Commission last week.
“I’m bringing a concern as a citizen of this county,” he told commissioners. “I think it bears this commission looking into the type of response you’re getting from the ambulance service that you currently have under contract.”
Commissioner Mack Reeves, who is the brother of Rhonda McEntyre, said the four ambulances on duty that night were not working emergencies but were transferring patients among facilities.
“We need an ambulance available for emergencies at any given time,” he said. "[Tommy McEntyre] has been quite nice in his report. Point blank, [the ambulances] were doing transfers. They were not on an emergency. Therefore, we did not have an ambulance available for an emergency situation.”
“We are aware of what happened up there, and there are other [similar] instances,” he said. “We hate that this happened. ... We pay Grandview a significant amount of money each year to run that service. We are a voice, and we hope to be heard when we sit down with Grandview at the table.”
In a prepared statement, Grandview Medical Center CEO Bruce Baldwin said that, at the time of Rhonda McEntyre’s injury, none of the ambulances received any calls about diverting to the farm.
“This matter remains under careful review by everyone at Grandview EMS, including our medical director,” Baldwin said in the statement. “We remain, as always, eager and open to discuss any possible issues and solutions with county officials on improvements to the EMS services.”
Commission Chairman Gene Hargis said the panel’s ambulance committee recently met on the issue and is trying to correct the situation.
County Mayor John Graham said the county is trying to get the ambulance service’s call logs so the committee can determine when problems are occurring.
“As soon as we get that information, I’m sure the ambulance committee will meet on that, and we’ll take action to address that problem,” he said.
Copyright 2011 Chattanooga Publishing Company