DEKALB COUNTY, Ga. — The vice president of CARE Ambulance Company appealed to DeKalb County Commissioners Tuesday for help in saving the company's contract, terminated last week by the county's Public Safety Director, William Miller.
Doug Tisdale of CARE said, "We don't want to be blamed for an error we didn't commit." He believes the company has been made a scapegoat for the county's recent 911 problems, even though many of the calls citizens have complained about were handled by DeKalb County Fire Rescue paramedics and didn't involve CARE ambulances.
Tisdale told the commissioners his ambulances have responded to 43,027 calls since getting the contract in 2008. The only time he's aware of a response delay, he said, involved a teenage soccer player who collided with another student on the field at Adams Stadium. The ambulance took nearly 18 minutes to arrive, after the crew Googled the address, because dispatchers had only sent them to a nearby intersection. Miller said the crew should have contacted 911 dispatchers for more information.
Tisdale said one complaint out of 43,027 calls is not grounds for firing. The CARE contract only requires an on-time response 90 percent of the time.
"We will do everything in our power to be as close to perfect as we can. And I think 99.9 percent of the time is pretty close," said Tisdale.
He said Miller fired the company for convenience, not for cause. Miller said the county complained about response times twice in January. Tisdale disputed that, and said, "I have never received a notice from DeKalb County questioning a response time except for the soccer field incident."
Tisdale requested commissioners conduct an independent audit of all 911 calls in DeKalb County. He said that would show the real problems including dispatch mistakes on calls handled by DeKalb Fire Rescue paramedics, which CARE Ambulance has nothing to do with.
Channel 2 Action News investigative reporter Jodie Fleischer asked Miller about the audit idea. At first he said, "I don't have a thought or a comment on it right now." When pressed he added, "Sure, I welcome any view of our 911 system. Yes, I'm proud of it."
The commissioners vowed to discuss the possibility of an audit in their committee meetings next week. That would be their only option for action, since they do not have the authority to reverse the public safety director's decision.
He plans to have a new ambulance company in place by July 6.
The CARE Ambulance service contract with DeKalb County has no cost to taxpayers. The company makes its money by billing the patients who receive the care.
WSBTV
