Ohio EMS provider hires former First Med employees

Portsmouth Ambulance has already snapped up 25 displaced employees laid off Friday by parent company First Med

December 10, 2013 01:48 AM

The Portsmouth Daily Times

PORTSMOUTH, Ohio — Many in the community were surprised to learn that LIFE Ambulance Services told its employees on Friday that the company was shutting down and they were all out of jobs. In response to the news, Portsmouth Ambulance Owner Mike Adkins started to hire the displaced employees.

As of Monday morning, Adkins said he has hired 25 former LIFE Ambulance Services employees.

“We’ve hired all of them (former LIFE Ambulance Services employees) that’s come in so far,” Adkins said. “We’re expanding, so we would be more than glad to hire any more that come in, that’s been displaced in this area.”

When asked what his motivation was to hire the former LIFE Ambulance Services employees Adkins said, “they needed a job and we needed some more staff. We are bringing on two extra ambulance crews.”

Adkins said that puts Portsmouth Ambulance up to eight 24-hour crews.

“We do expect more of their (former LIFE Ambulance Services) employees to come in, we’ve received some calls that some will be stopping in later this week,” Adkins said.

He said it’s good for his company and the community they were able to hire these experienced employees.

“With this being around Christmas and New Year’s we don’t want to see anyone without a job and we do need the people to work, so we’re really excited to be able to help them,” Adkins said.

The Daily Times placed several calls to LIFE Ambulance Services offices, with the only response being that more information would be forthcoming about the closure, though no time frame was given.

The Fayette Advocate is reporting, “First Med, which owns LIFE Ambulance, told their employees on Friday that they were being relieved of their duties because the company ‘was out of money,’ according to numerous former-LIFE employees who contacted Fayette Advocate.”

The Daily Times has not received a comment from LIFE Ambulance.

According to The Fayette Advocate, “LIFE Ambulance was purchased by First Med in July 2011. LIFE operated nearly 250 vehicles out of more than 20 bases in Ohio and West Virginia. Together with their partner, MedCorp, they were the largest EMS provider in the state of Ohio. As a whole, First Med operates from 65 offices, in 6 states, with over 650 vehicles, providing over 500,000 transports per year. Their headquarters are in Wilmington, N.C.”