Fla. county EMS: More ambulances needed for growing area

The EMS service requested funding to add a unit to its fleet of 18 ambulances to reduce response times

Bradenton Herald

MANATEE, Fla. — Manatee County Emergency Medical Services has only 18 ambulances responsible for transporting those in need to area hospitals -- not enough, officials warn, as Manatee County and the number of EMS calls continue to grow.

Officials voiced a critical need for additional ambulances in Tuesday's county budget hearings. In May, the center received 1,200 more calls than in May 2014.

Expert Analysis

EMS agencies need resources to meet rising demands for service

This story is emblematic for EMS systems across the country which are struggling to maintain existing response levels in a rapidly changing service environment. Manatee County, Fla., is a typical service area, with 342,000 citizens living within 900 square miles. It has both rural and urban areas of population density.

Issues of rising call volume, delays at emergency departments and suboptimal number of staffed units are cited by this article. Add to this diminishing insurance reimbursement, an increasingly overwhelmed workforce, and increasing wear and tear on vehicles and equipment, and I think one can guess where this scenario is heading.

These issues are complex, interrelated and often caused by conditions that occur far outside the EMS universe. The bigger picture is that the safety net of the U.S. health care system - EMS - is unable to keep up with the increasing numbers of people who are still unable to access health care, even in this era of the Affordable Care Act. There is an increasing number of reports of patients not able to see a primary care provider for months, if at all; many medical groups can’t or won’t accept new patients. The number of new general practitioners are not enough to offset the ones who are retiring or leaving the practice entirely.