Brooke McAfee
The Evening News and the Tribune, Jeffersonville, Ind.
FLOYD COUNTY, Ind. — Local officials continue to disagree about how to proceed with EMS in Floyd County as two of the commissioners move to disband an advisory board exploring the issue.
In recent years, county officials have examined ways to improve fire and EMS services, a topic that has been a point of contention among commissioners and council members. Tuesday’s meeting of the Floyd County Commissioners ignited further debate.
The new board of the Floyd County Commissioners voted 2-1 to dissolve the EMS Advisory Board on the first reading. The ordinance would need to be passed on second reading to take effect.
In recent years, the advisory board has discussed whether the county should remain with New Chapel EMS, the county’s partner for ambulance services, or go in a different direction.
New Chapel operates two ambulances with full-time staffing for Floyd County, and a third ambulance provides service during peak hours, and the contract costs about $280,000 annually.
Tim Kamer, president of the Floyd County Commissioners, presented the ordinance at Tuesday’s meeting. It was the first meeting for Floyd County Commissioner Al Knable, who took office this month in the seat previously filled by Shawn Carruthers.
Knable and Kamer voted for the ordinance to dissolve the advisory board, while John Schellenberger voted against the measure.
Kamer noted that efforts to find an alternative EMS provider have not progressed, and he would prefer to work with New Chapel to modify the contract. In November, the Floyd County Commissioners received proposals from New Chapel and American Medical Response (AMR) for consideration of ambulance service.
In 2022, Baptist Health Floyd proposed partnering with Floyd County to manage county-wide EMS services, but the hospital ultimately did not submit a proposal to the commissioners.
Kamer has long been a critic of the EMS Advisory Board, and he said he believes the board has an “agenda to get rid of our EMS provider.” He said the board has not made any progress on the issue.
“The long story short on this is that we’ve gotten zero outcomes besides bashing of New Chapel, zero contract negotiations for improvements of service except let’s go to market because that’s the right thing to do,” he said. “And all the while, we’ve had no changes in services. It’s abundantly clear that the EMS Advisory Board has not done any effective changes to our EMS service.”
In late 2020, the Floyd County Commissioners selected Kamer to lead a separate subcommittee to discuss the potential unification of Floyd County’s fire and EMS services. The efforts stalled as they failed to reach a consensus.
Schellenberger and Floyd County Councilman Brad Striegel both serve on the EMS Advisory Board, and they led the effort to form the board.
Fitch and Associates completed a study in January 2020 looking into EMS service across Floyd County except for New Albany, and it identified a need for improvement in areas ranging from ambulance response time to the use of automated vehicle location (AVL).
RECOMMENDED CHANGES
As Kamer moves to disband the advisory board, he would like to see an EMS oversight board run by the Floyd County Health Department.
“I propose that we move those duties to the health department — very similar to what Clark County is doing,” he said. "[I propose] we establish an automated [ Computer Aided Dispatch] report from the sheriff’s office with summary and detail sent to the health department, sent to the board of commissioners and the provider.”
Schellenberger criticized Kamer’s recommendation to move duties to the health department. He feels the board has “some very qualified members” from the medical profession, including representatives from EMS.
“They breathe and live EMS, and for us to go ahead and abolish this and take it over to the health department — the health department’s expertise is not EMS at all,” he said.
Kamer said he wants to know how an increased number of ambulances in Floyd County could help response times.
“The question I’ve been asking for two years is how many ambulances do we need to get these numbers down, and I get radio silence from an advisory board,” he said. “That’s not an advisory board — that’s an agenda to get rid of our EMS provider.”
Schellenberger said it’s important “to know where they’re coming from” when New Chapel ambulances are responding to calls in Floyd County. The board has called for the use of AVL to track ambulances’ speed and location.
Kamer said he would be interested in finding solutions such as expanding to four ambulances, implementing automatic vehicle location (AVL) and creating a process for reporting data. However, he has issues with the approach of the EMS Advisory Board.
“If we want to get engaged and put AVLs on this, let’s put it in the contract, and let’s get automated reports,” he said. “The [ Computer Aided Dispatch] system is fully capable to do any report that we need. We can scrutinize until the cows come home or until we’re all comfortable, but we’ve got to take politics out of first response.”
COMMUNITY CONCERNS
Gary Kleeman, a member of the advisory board and former Harrison County EMS director, said the quality of care in Floyd County should be considered, not just response times, and he voiced concerns about the move to disband the board.
“You guys are responsible for ensuring ambulance service to our county,” Kleeman said. “One would assume that you want the highest quality service possible, whether the need is for someone in a hotel, if they’re stuck along [Interstate] 64 or if it’s your next-door neighbor.”
Kleeman voiced reservations about Kamer’s suggestion to move the advisory board’s duties to the health department, noting that the current advisory board is a group of volunteers versus paid employees of the county.
Frank Loop, former Floyd County Sheriff, said he was appointed to the EMS Advisory Board, but he stopped attending because of a “lack of transparency.”
Loop said he told the advisory board that Floyd County needs four ambulances to improve response times. He mentioned instances where the county faces four or five EMS runs in the same hour and a half.
He said “we don’t need data, we need a half million dollars appropriated” to buy the additional ambulances.
“We can’t even get ambulances and transport them to the hospital in that kind of time,” Loop said. “Where are we getting the trucks? We need four ambulances just like we need four police officers on the street minimum.”
Dr. Nathan Berger, a member of the Floyd County EMS Advisory Board and an EMS director in Scott County, spoke up at Tuesday’s meeting with concerns about the current status of EMS service in Floyd County. He cited a medical emergency that occurred at his own home.
“We had a medical emergency at our house — a trauma — and it took a long time,” he said. " Lafayette got there quickly, and it took a long, long time for the current [EMS] provider.”
Berger said it took about 20 to 30 minutes for New Chapel to arrive at his Floyd County home since the ambulance came from Clark County. He does not plan to continue on the advisory board, but he hopes to see county officials come together to find a solution.
“We need to just come together and put the knives down and have the intentional fortitude to get it done,” he said.
On Tuesday, Kamer and Knable also voted on the first reading to approve an ordinance to dissolve the Highlander Fire Protection District. The previous board of commissioners approved the establishment of the new district last Friday to consolidate the Lafayette and Greenville fire districts.
The ordinance to dissolve the fire district will also need to pass on the second reading. Both commissioners say they are seeking additional data before making their final decisions.
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