The Franklin County EMS Committee has notified Shoals Ambulance Service of several violations of its contract to provide county-wide ambulance service, the Franklin Free Press has learned.
According to 911 director Brandon James, Shoals Ambulance was sent a letter dated June 17, 2016, detailing a list of alleged violations, including:
•Issues related to notification to 911 on private line calls;
•Concerns about the company's GPS tracking system that allows 911 dispatchers to see the location of ambulances;
•Concerns about submission of run data;
•Required financial documents.
Although James would not release a copy of the letter, he discussed its contents with the Free Press. James said this was the first notice of violations sent to Shoals Ambulance since it became Franklin County's exclusive 911 provider almost two years ago.
“There were no fines related to this letter," James said. "There were some issues, and Shoals Ambulance was notified of them."
James said the company would have up to 30 days to correct any violations and that he would check for compliance at that time. James is the chairman of the EMS Committee, and the county's contract with Shoals Ambulance calls for that committee to be the regulatory entity to check the ambulance provider's compliance with contract terms.
A competitive bid process in 2014 resulted in Shoals Ambulance being awarded a 12-month contract to provide exclusive ambulance service in Franklin County. Russellville and Red Bay joined in the contract, while Phil Campbell opted out after city leaders decided to continue using the Phil Campbell Rescue Squad for ambulance service.
Pleasant Bay Ambulance Service, owned by Franklin County coroner Elzie Malone, provided county-wide ambulance service until September of 2014. Malone's company sued the Franklin County Commission and the cities of Red Bay and Russellville for interference with business operations. Franklin County circuit judge Terry Dempsey dismissed the lawsuit last year, and Pleasant Bay has appealed.
When Shoals Ambulance and Franklin County officials discussed renewing the 12-month contract last September, Shoals Ambulance was allowed to decrease the number of ambulances it has on call in Franklin County. The current terms call for Shoals Ambulance to have two 24-hour Advanced Life Support units, one 12-hour Advanced Life Support Unit and one fully equipped ambulance at the Russellville station staffed with on-call responders.
A second 12-hour Advanced Life Support Unit was required in the first contract, but Shoals Ambulance officials complained that Pleasant Bay's continued operation, which it alleged to be in violation of Alabama law, resulted in fewer calls being dispatched to Shoals Ambulance.
James said he is unaware of Pleasant Bay still operating and hasn't see one of its ambulances on the roads this year. Pleasant Bay's main office, on North Jackson Avenue in Russellville, was empty on Wednesday, and telephone calls to the business went to an answering machine.
The EMS Committee recommended last year the revised minimum totals be revisited once “pending litigation is resolved.” James said the EMS Committee had the matter on its agenda for its July 12 meeting.
“That will be discussed at the next committee meeting," James said. "It was presented to us [that] they could not compete at the time with Pleasant Bay still taking private line calls. I feel that we need another 24-hour ambulance in the county. We'd love to have three serving Russellville and three serving Red Bay, but without a subsidy to Shoals Ambulance that's not going to happen.
“They are a for-profit ambulance service, and they've got to have money to operate. I think at least getting that other 12-hour ambulance back will help, and I hope they give us another 12-hour truck. That will allow for three 24-hour ambulances, and that's what we'd like to see."
James said he's not concerned about the quality of care provided by Shoals. Rather, he worries about the number of trucks staffing the county.
“I have confidence in the system. There's room for improvement. The service Shoals Ambulance provides is great," James said. "They have good medics, good basics and good equipment. Do I think we need some more coverage? Yes, and I hope that can be worked out, hopefully without a subsidy.”
James said any citizen wanting to file a complaint against Shoals Ambulance is encouraged to call the 911 Office at 256-332-8820 and ask for him.
“I'll get them a complaint form," he said. "They complete it, get it back to me and I'll investigate the matter, pull all the times and information to see how long the response was and whether there were multiple ambulance calls at the same time."
Recent incidents involving Shoals Ambulance response time to calls have been the subject of letters to the editor in the Free Press. Shoals Ambulance officials responded last week to the allegations.
James said he's received verbal complaints in the past, but the resident's time frame of how long the ambulance response time was differed from the 911 log and tapes.
