Just Which Is It, Commissioner Fulmer?

Is Lauderdale EMS the best ambulance service for Florence and Lauderdale County? Most efficient and economical? Those with experience in such matters will have to decide that; we do think the contract needs to be bid whenever there's a promising new player in town or if there have been complaints concerning the current ambulance service.

Have there been complaints about Lauderdale EMS? What does Commissioner Rhea Tays Michael Fulmer think? That seems to depend...

Fulmer and Thornton said they have received complaints about slow response time by Lauderdale EMS. Fulmer said she has expressed concerns to Lauderdale EMS officials. Fulmer said the commission would be obligated to look at the possibility if better service can be provided. - From the June 6, 2012 TimesDaily

Lauderdale County Commissioner Rhea Fulmer said...she had some concerns about response time issues with Lauderdale EMS but those have been addressed by Lauderdale EMS Director Bruce Carson. Fulmer asked if the commission was looking at the possibility of rebidding the contract because Shoals Ambulance Service is trying to locate in the area. - From the June 13, 2012 TimesDaily

Fulmer said she doesn’t understand why the county is leaving “good quality” EMS service. “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it,” she said. - From the June 26, 2012 TimesDaily

So what occurred in that seven day period that produced such a 180 degree turn in Ms. Fulmer's thinking? A conversation with the Lauderdale EMS manager? Without similar conversations with those who are not connected to the current ambulance service, we doubt Mrs. Fulmer would get a very unbiased picture of why there's a delay in response time.

Is rebidding because Shoals Ambulance has entered the picture? Certainly. Remember that county commissioners should want the best for their citizens, be it Shoals or Lauderdale EMS. What does it hurt to let Shoals Ambulance tell you what they can do...that is unless your mind is already made up by whatever happened between June 6th and June 13th?

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Some readers have contacted us concerning the high number of patients being transported to Huntsville Hospital by Lauderdale EMS. The ambulance service is affiliated with Keller EMS which is in turn affiliated with Huntsville Hospital. We consulted with a physician who offered this:

This likely has to do with the state plan for handling accidents. Anytime there is a loss of consciousness or a potential for head trauma the EMS must institute the state plan which calls for the patient to be taken to a Level I trauma service. Huntsville is the closest one. Keller does not even participate in the State Emergency Plan, and ECM is a level III because we do not have neurosurgical coverage 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. If we did we could qualify for Level I and in the future with a new hospital I look for us to go to a Level II if we can recruit the right people.

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We've been lax in adding to our Shoals Eyesore List. We will have some more entries with revealing photos later this week. If you have a candidate for our list, send it on. There's plenty of competition.



Shoalanda