Keller EMS sees successful first year
Jan. 1 marked the one-year anniversary of Keller EMS providing ambulance service to Franklin County. Keller EMS director Bruce Carson said it has been a successful first year.
Carson addressed the Franklin County Commission at their work session Jan. 8 and gave a recap of the year.
“Our service is healthy. We looked at our dispatches and resources and the staff that we have, and we’re pleased with the outcome,” he said.
The total number of calls for service in the county was 4,028. Carson explained that doesn’t just mean hospital calls; it includes standing by at things like sporting events, structure fires and accidents, as well.
Carson said 3,300 of those calls were transports in the county. Keller EMS also made 58 standby requests, which is when Keller has to pull an ambulance from their Colbert County business to be on standby in Franklin during some of the busier times.
“We have had upwards of six ambulances running in Franklin County at one time, which is good. You don’t usually see those kinds of numbers in a rural county,” Carson said.
He said on 36 occasions Keller needed a specialty care truck from their Colbert County business to handle special cases, like out-of-town calls and transports.
“It kept us from being tied up here in Franklin so we could maintain proper service here,” he said.
It’s all about maintaining a balance between the 911 calls, the emergency calls and the hospital calls, he said.
According to the feedback Carson said they have received from the fire departments and Franklin County EMS Committee, they were successful at maintaining that balance.
“We appreciate the unified effort and the smooth transition you’ve made into Franklin County,” Commissioner Rayburn Massey said to Carson.
According to Carson, the transition has gone so well that the EMS committee reduced its meetings from more frequently to quarterly because there were hardly any issues or problems to address.
The commission thanked Carson for the proficiency of Keller EMS’ services, and Commissioner Chris Wallace told him they were doing an excellent job.
