By Paul Rioux, St. Tammany bureau
Times-Picayune (Louisiana)
Copyright 2006 The Times-Picayune Publishing Company
The Pearl River Fire Department plans to start its own ambulance service in an effort to get patients to hospitals faster and perhaps more cheaply, Fire Chief Robert Crowe said.
Of the 14 fire departments in St. Tammany Parish, only Mandeville and Lacombe have ambulance services.
“This is still in the planning stages, but I think it’s definitely something we can handle,” said Crowe, who announced the plans Tuesday night at a meeting of the town’s Board of Aldermen. “We hope this will get people to the hospital sooner and save them money.”
The Fire Department has more than 24 first responders who provide basic first aid, but they are unable to transport patients or perform more advanced lifesaving procedures, such as starting IVs, Crowe said.
The town is currently served by two private ambulance companies: Lifeguard Ambulance Service and Acadian Ambulance Service, which rents space at one of the town’s fire stations for an ambulance base, Crowe said.
Crowe did not have data on ambulance response times in Pearl River, but he said there have been cases in which patients had to wait for an ambulance to arrive from as far away as Covington.
“I’m not saying the private ambulance services aren’t doing a good job,” he said after the meeting. “But if there’s a chance to enhance our medical services to the community, that’s something we need to do.”
He said the department has an average response time of 3 minutes, 26 seconds for medical emergencies.
“It’s critical to get there in less than five minutes, because that’s when people suffering from cardiac arrest start to lose brain cells,” he said.
Crowe said the ambulance service would be financed by fees charged to patients transported to hospitals.
Although he did not have information on the fees charged by Lifeguard and Acadian, Crowe said he believes the department could provide the services for less than a for-profit company.
“All we want to do is to be able to break even, not make a profit,” he said.
An Acadian Ambulance spokeswoman declined to comment, saying the company had not been informed of the Fire Department’s plans. A telephone message left with Lifeguard Ambulance was not returned Wednesday afternoon.
Crowe said the department is preparing an ambulance service proposal to be submitted to the St. Tammany Parish Medical Society. If approved, the proposal, which includes detailed procedures for treating patients, would be sent to the state for certification.
Crowe said that if all goes well, the ambulance service could begin in about six months.
The department has an ambulance and plans to acquire a second used model in August, Crowe said.
He said each ambulance must be staffed by at least one paramedic to transport patients. The department has one paramedic and plans to hire three or four more, he said.