I have been a dedicated and frustrated Paramedic for many years.  My
frustration stems from the widespread practice of Nursing and Extended Care
facilities within our fine state utilizing "privately owned" ambulances to
respond to "true 911" emergency calls at their facilities.



Many times, these ambulances are dispatched on emergency runs to these
facilities from distant locations, frequently passing local volunteer and
full-time city, township and county EMS stations which are closer and would
have a quicker response time.



The majority of temporary and full-time residents of these facilities are
current and past taxpayers that support(ed) local governmental Fire/EMS
stations whose coverage areas include the facility they live in.  So, in an
emergency they are receiving care from a private ambulance company that
typically charges more for their services than a local public EMS system
would charge.   Many public EMS systems in Ohio still provide free fire and
EMS services or request a nominal fee, or residents participate in a
subscription based fire/EMS system.



Most of us have been impacted by one of our friends or family members being
"placed" in a nursing home.  Usually this placement is near the person's
original residence that is served by a local fire/EMS station.  Then, after
becoming a resident of the facility, should they suffer a medical emergency
the local EMS system is often by-passed and the facility calls a private
ambulance.



This practice needs to stop!  Facilities should be forced to call EMS
services which are closer in order to provide the quickest emergent care
possible to our senior citizens.  These facilities should not be allowed to
sign exclusive contracts with private ambulance services unless the private
service is closer than a local public system and has a crew on station to
handle an emergency run.



Over the years, I have witnessed occasions where an individual in a rest
home had to wait, sometimes with an undesirable complication (in other words
the patient DIED) as a result of delayed response from a privately owned
ambulance that had to travel a long distance and passed one or more local
fire/EMS stations (which have established mutual aid agreements) on it's
journey to the scene of the emergency.



This is not a localized problem.  It exists within all of Ohio and probably
most other states and possessions.  I was raised by parents who taught me to
respect and honor my elders.  Just as I am raising my son with the same
values.  When a private ambulance service receives a request to respond to a
known emergency, they should put profits aside and have the facility call
the closest agency to respond.  To do otherwise is irresponsible, unethical
and a shame.



In my 20 plus years as a paramedic I have had the unique opportunity to
positively impact the lives of many individuals.  At the same time, my life
has been impacted by the dark side of pre-hospital emergency care.  I
struggle everyday with haunting memories of death and anguish.  At least I
find some solace in exposing this unjust treatment that our seniors
unknowingly receive.





Mark A. Stewart

241 Mulberry Street

Bremen, Ohio 43107

740-438-0299