Expanded Reid Health EMS service up to speed with quick responses

RICHMOND, Ind. — The blue, green and white ambulances zip throughout Wayne County, lights flashing and sirens blaring.

Reid Health EMS began Jan. 1 serving all of Wayne County outside Richmond Fire Department's territory in the city and Wayne Township. This is the first year of a five-year, $1,473,450 contract Wayne County's commissioners awarded Reid last October for all three county ambulance districts.

Through August, the expansion from one district to three has gone smoothly.

"We are very pleased at the performance of Reid EMS in the first eight months of their new contract with the county," Commissioner Jeff Plasterer said. "They're exceeding every performance measure of their contract. It's working well, and they have the resources and staffing to make sure it works well."

Reid's Ryan Williams, the director of EMS, and Jacob Cox along with Matthew Cain, director of the Wayne County Emergency Management Agency, gave commissioners an update during Wednesday's weekly meeting. Reid responded to 2,080 calls with the average response taking 7 minutes and 55 seconds, more than a minute below the 8:59 national average.

Cain told commissioners he's been impressed. The EMS contract specifies arrival times of 15 minutes or less 90% of the time. Cain said Reid betters 15 minutes 100% of the time.

"Reid has performed extremely well in serving the entire county outside the city of Richmond and Wayne Township," Commissioner Mary Anne Butters said. "They're beating the response times beyond my expectations. There was some concern because this was a new service area, but the rapid, highly trained response is serving Wayne County extremely well."

Reid first bid on an ambulance service area during 2018 when commissioners did not initially receive bids. Others did then bid, but Reid was chosen over Dublin EMS to serve the county's southwestern segment, which includes Cambridge City, Dublin, Milton and other smaller communities, for three years beginning Jan. 1, 2019. Culberson served the northwest sector and Red Line EMS the eastern area.

On Jan. 1, 2021, Reid began providing Union County's ambulance service, winning that bid during September 2020. Then last October, commissioners selected Reid for all three Wayne County areas ahead of Red Line and Spirit EMS.

During the contract's first three years, the county pays $285,000, the same it paid the past three years for all three service areas. The payment increases to $304,950 the fourth year; and $313,500 the fifth year.

"Because of the experience with them serving the southwest quadrant, we knew their capabilities and commitment were strong, but it was new to Reid," Butters said. "Until we saw them in action, we did not know how highly they would perform."

Williams said Reid has experienced some growing pains with rapid growth in a relatively new department. He said Reid has 11 ambulances, including five for Wayne County, at five bases staffed 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Other bases are in Liberty and Connersville. Reid also performs non-emergent patient transfers in addition to emergency ambulance response.

Through August, the county's eastern district has accounted for 878 EMS calls, Reid's original southwest district for 663 calls and the northwest district for 419. Of Reid's calls, 119 have been included internal mutual aid. That means a Reid ambulance from a different area —maybe within Wayne County or maybe from Union or Fayette counties — covers for an ambulance already busy.

"I think they've done an excellent job," Commissioner Ken Paust said. "They certainly have done what we expected them to do. Their ability to move people from one location to another is beneficial for the people of Wayne County."

Cain said Reid has occasionally used Richmond Fire Department for mutual aid and vice versa, but the frequency is "nothing that's alarming or stands out to me."

In addition to its ambulances, Reid has three other SUV response vehicles. Administrators use those vehicles to respond to serious or multi-patient incidents where extra assistance is valuable. The SUVs are outfitted with the same advanced life support equipment as an ambulance; however, they cannot be used to transport patients.

Cain said the responding administrators take on the role of EMS incident command, streamlining communication for the 911 dispatchers and on-site personnel.

Reid's average response time is broken into two parts. On average it takes 1:54 from a dispatcher toning EMS to the responding ambulance marking en route. It then takes an average of 6:01 in driving time before the ambulance marks on scene. The longest average drive time is the eastern sector at 7:02, with 5:56 in the northwest and 4:43 in the southwest.

Williams said the internal goal is to keep that first response less than 2 minutes, including overnight hours when crews are sleeping at their stations. If there's no en route response within 2 minutes, the dispatcher issues another tone.

Reid also watches time spent on scene closely, Williams said. Leaving a scene and administering more needed care when the ambulance is moving enables patients to arrive more quickly at a hospital.

Among its ambitions, Reid hopes to create a ground critical care unit that would have a nurse onboard for trips to higher-level care centers. Paust said he'd like to see Reid add a cardiac unit to provide extra care during cardiac emergencies.

Reid also has developed an education program. It this year conducted a free emergency medical responder class for local volunteer firefighters and first responders. About 25 people completed the course to increase their skills if they're first on scene and enable them to better work with Reid personnel as "one team," Williams said. Another 20 people on Aug. 22 completed an EMT course, and Reid would like to offer a paramedic training program.

Training programs address a challenge Reid faces: staffing. Williams said Reid could still increase add about 10 employees to its current 69. He said half those who completed the EMT program are interested in working with Reid in some form, and the EMS program has just hired two 18-year-olds who recently completed Richmond Fire Department's firefighter and EMS program offered through Richmond High School's career center.

Reid EMS also has made a concerted community outreach effort to build residents' trust when they need help. The outreach includes booths at fall festivals, standby units at sporting events, mock accidents or public first aid, cardiopulmonary resuscitation and stop the bleed training.

"We want to be part of the communities we're in," Williams said.

This article originally appeared on Richmond Palladium-Item: Expanded Reid Health EMS service up to speed with quick responses