Faster EMS Response Planned In North Carolina

A plan to improve Gaston County Emergency Medical Services' response times would double the number of ambulances on the road to 16 and increase the number of paramedics by 80 percent over the next three years.

GEMS Director Mark Lamphiear said his three-year, $3.5 million plan would be funded by the extra revenue generated by GEMS' ability to handle more calls. About half of GEMS' revenue comes from fees collected from patients.

GEMS average response time in 2004 was 10.7 minutes; the nationally recommended response time is 8 minutes, 59 seconds. Lamphiear's goal is to answer 90 percent of the county's roughly 35,000 calls per year in less than 9 minutes -- up from 57 percent now -- although he said that might be difficult if call volume continues to increase.

Several commissioners on Wednesday praised the plan, which Lamphiear said would not require a tax increase, but questioned some details. There's no timetable for when the plan will go before commissioners.

He also wants to hire another billing clerk, who he said could collect an additional $25,000 to $50,000 per month in unpaid balances.

Lamphiear proposes starting this year with $1.2 million in improvements, including 20 new positions, and transforming the GEMS station in Lowell from a 12- to a 24-hour operation.

The change at the Lowell station would create four paramedic positions and raise operating costs there by $350,000 per year, Lamphiear said. The Lowell station would help GEMS reach more sites more quickly, Lamphiear said.

"It's near the interstate. It's near the edge of Gastonia. And we can cover a lot of highly populated areas from that station," he said. "We've demonstrated through trial that we can reduce the overall response time with this."

The plan also includes $237,500 to place 95 defibrillators in Gaston County Police and Sheriff's Office patrol cars. That won't reduce paramedic response times, Lamphiear said, but it could get help more quickly to patients in cardiac arrest -- one of the deadliest and most time-sensitive emergencies.

County police and Sheriff's Office vehicles have automatic vehicle locating systems, which would allow dispatchers to locate and send the closest officer.

GEMS also plans to offer $50,000 in incentives for volunteer rescue squads starting this year. The money would be divided among the eight rescue squads in Gaston based on the number of calls they take. Each squad would reward volunteers based on how many calls they respond to per year. Lamphiear said he hopes the incentive will encourage more people to volunteer and encourage them to take more calls.

He also wants to hire a GEMS education specialist this year to teach CPR classes and visit nursing homes to teach workers to recognize true emergencies. Lamphiear said a large percentage of calls come from nursing homes, with many not requiring the advanced medical training of GEMS paramedics.

Commissioner Pearl Burris Floyd said that suggestion made her nervous. "A lot of times, something to the naked eye looks fine, but in reality it's not," she said.

Commissioners Chairman Tom Keigher and commissioner Jack Brown said they also want GEMS to look at waste. Keigher said he passed by a minor crash recently and saw eight emergency vehicles at the scene, which seemed like overkill.

The second phase of Lamphiear's plan would begin in 2006, addressing response times in Gaston's outlying areas, where patients wait as long as 12 minutes on average for a paramedic.

Lamphiear wants to spend $1.4 million to base crews in four areas -- South Point, Lucia or Alexis, Cherryville, and Crowders Mountain.

The new units, which would share space with existing volunteer fire departments and rescue squads, would operate around the clock. They would be staffed with 32 paramedics -- all new positions -- and four new ambulances, Lamphiear said.