Pickens County ambulance service makes progress
PICKENS COUNTY, Miss. (WCBI) – The EMS system has been around since the 1960s, and in the years that followed, there was growth in emergency medical services. However, in 2008, the revenue source fell off, causing rural areas to struggle.
Edgar Calloway, operations director for Northstar EMS, says now it seems like the earlier days when emergency workers were trying to keep up with the growth.
“We’re trying to build a system for EMS where EMS already exists, it just needs to be financially supported,” Calloway said.
Pickens County officials met again to discuss the progress of the ambulance service. Money and competitive pay from surrounding services have been a huge problem.
Now, it’s looking up as county officials have come together to find the funding.
Manager for Pickens County EMS Vicky McCrory said staffing has gone better than expected.
“We were able to hire some local people and train them to go on the ambulances as drivers and go on to become EMTs and even paramedics,” McCrory said.
McCrory says they currently have 4 employees for the ambulance service, and eight more are on the way.
“We’ll have two ambulances staffed in two weeks,” McCrory said.
Alabama state senator Gerald Allen said it’s clear the people in Pickens County know how to work together.
“This is a very good foundation that’s been laid on how people can work together,” Allen said. “This is a good way to build a foundation and move to the next level.”
Representative Ron Bolton said they have a great short-term fix and they’re not stopping there.
“It means a lot to me that we can provide the services out in the field for people who need medical transporting and paramedic transporting. But, we don’t want to lay down here on our accomplishments,” Bolton said. “Because as I said, this is a band-aid. We would like to see medical services and get our hospital open and various other things that we’re continuously working on. It’s a piece of the puzzle, just not the whole puzzle.”
Bolton said that they are looking into possibly opening part of the Pickens County Medical Center as an adolescent mental health facility which is a big need in rural America.
