Cherokee E-9-1-1 Board Meeting: Possibility of Second Ambulance Service at Issue

The Cherokee County E-91-1 Board meeting on Wednesday had to be moved from Cherokee Medical Centre’s small meeting room to the County Commission Chambers at the Administration Building due to a larger than usual number in attendance.

A group of concerned citizens from the Cedar Bluff and Broomtown communities were in attendance to share with the Board reasons they believe another ambulance service needs to be operating in the County.

The Public discussion lasted for an hour with several citizens addressing the Board concerning one main issue and that was response time for ambulance service. One of the owners of AmTran, Matthew Joiner, and one of the owners of Cherokee Emergency Services, Danny Smith both spoke to the Board about the issues telling the Board there’s not enough call volume to support two ambulances services.

photo 1Cherokee Emergency Medical Services has been providing ambulance service in the County for 14 years. Currently CEMS operates 5 Advanced Life Support Units and two Basic Life Support units. On a daily basis 5 units are on the road to serve the emergency medical needs of the county. During the past 3 months, CEMS has stationed an ambulance at Cedar Bluff twelve hours each day. It is manned there for quicker response times and better service for citizens north of Weiss Lake. Joiner told the Board his two year old company now has 34 ambulances on the road daily in Georgia and can provide a valuable service to the county. AmTran now has one ambulance in Cherokee County but said they would bring as many units as needed to serve the area.

photo 2Chairman of the E 9-1-1 Board, Johnny Roberts, told the group there is no contract with any ambulance service for the County. He said the Board is in the process of formulating policies governing the operation of multiple services to operate within the county. He said many legal questions have to be answered before a policy can be written and adopted. He told the group, they have obtained copies of similar Board Policies from other counties and municipalities where multiple ambulance services operate within the same jurisdiction in order to develop a workable policy for this county.

While there are many complex issues to be settled, everyone at the meeting agreed that quality Emergency Medical Services for all citizens of the county is paramount.

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