Decatur County Ambulance Service Back in County Control
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Decatur County officials said changing government regulations and a tight economy have caused tremendous strain on their emergency management services division causing the Decatur County Hospital to relinquish control of their ambulances to the county. “It just makes a little more business sense that the county assume that role,” said Mayor Michael Smith of Decatur County. Mayor Smith said under the leadership of the county the EMS division could potentially qualify for more government grants, which he said are desperately need to buy new ambulances and equipment. “Hopefully you’ll see newer equipment on the road, perhaps newer equipment in the units themselves,” he adds. Mayor Smith said over the weekend the EMS division had only one of their three ambulances in service. He said one ambulance is awaiting parts, the other is in the shop for repairs, which he expected to be picked up Monday and back in service the same day. “If you have a multi-casualty incident, what do you do?” said Parsons resident, Kevin Duck. “They should definitely try to get them fixed,” he adds. Mayor Smith said the neighboring counties work together when their ambulances are inoperative.
