DECATUR, Ga. — For some in DeKalb County, slow EMS response continues to be a problem in their neighborhoods.
We last spoke to DeKalb County Fire Chief Darnell Fullum in June. We asked for an update after a patient complained after waiting for an ambulance.
Ronald Shear, of Decatur, recognized the symptoms of a stroke.
"I woke up. And I had double vision," Shear said. "I couldn't see straight."
So, Shear called 911.
"The fire department--they got here pretty quick. And they evaluated me. And they said, 'If you want, do you want to go to the hospital?' I said, 'Yeah, I need to go.' And they said, 'Well, if you want to go by ambulance, it's going to be at least an hour, an hour and a half."
Shear heard stories about slow response times in the county. The Brookhaven Police Chief even spoke out about it four months ago. So, Spear made the decision to call a rideshare.
"I was just thinking, on the way, don't get worse," Shear continued. "Please, stay awake."
As it turns out, he said his doctor confirmed the stroke.
"The sooner you get there, the more you can do," Shear said.
Fullum said there's been a misunderstanding.
"There was an ambulance that was en route to the patient," Fullum said. "And at the time that ambulance was being canceled, due to the patient leaving the scene, it was about 10 minutes away from the call."
Here's the timeline the county gave:
- 8:26 - The call was received at DeKalb 911.
- 8:28 - The call was in the queue for dispatch as a Priority 4/non-emergent/ALS
- 8:30 - Engine 9 was dispatched
- 8:39 - Engine 9 arrived on the scene, assessed Shear
8:46 - Engine 9 requested a transport unit - 8:51 - AM62 was dispatched near East Ponce de Leon and Mountain Industrial Boulevard (10 minutes away from Shear's home)
- 8:52 - Engine 9 was advised that the patient was going to go to the hospital on his own
Fullum acknowledged there have been some challenges with American Medical Response, to which they are contracted to until the end of 2024.
"We continue to work with them," Fullum said. "We have weekly, in some cases, daily meetings and just working to find solutions to all of the issues that we're facing."
Since 11Alive last spoke to Fullum in June, he said staffing shortages have improved. AMR increased salaries. The response to high-priority calls remains consistent at 12 minutes, 90% of the time. However, wall time, or the time it takes to unload the patient at the hospital, is still high. Fullum said the county is implementing solutions now.
"We do operate a few ambulances that we put into the system on a daily basis to ensure that we're adding additional coverage."
He said all firefighters are at least trained in EMT.
A spokesperson for AMR shared this statement:
"The DeKalb County Fire Department is responsible for the dispatch and dispatch records for all ambulance responses in the County. At this time, the Fire Department is working with AMR to review this incident to better understand what occurred."
Whether it's ten minutes or an hour, Shear is looking for results, even if it means transporting patients in fire trucks.
"If nobody speaks up, you know, they're not going to get the message," Shear said.