Echo Ambulance Service in Jacksonville may have another tool in their first-responder toolbox soon.
The Jacksonville Municipal Ambulance Commission met Wednesday afternoon after Echo Ambulance placed a request to put a first response non-transport unit into service in the city. The current city ordinance does not house language to support a non-transport first responder service.
Echo Ambulance President Danny Plover told the commission that the unit, which has already been certified by the Illinois Department of Public Health, would be a basic life support (BLS) Ambulance Assistant that would respond to calls in tandem with Echo's emergency response ambulance. The assistant would only be allowed to respond to calls that Echo's ALS ambulance was already en route to.
Plover says it would simply act as a supervisor's vehicle to oversee certain calls being done by Echo or provide an extra set of hands in case of an extreme emergency: "The purpose of it is to allow our captain to move freely throughout the city and not tie him to an ambulance, instead of riding on an ambulance as a third person for oversight and whatnot."
Plover says the 2021 Dodge Durango SUV vehicle is completely outfitted for basic life support and first aid, and if LifeStar would request help, the captain would also be able to assist them, too. Plover says that Echo will not bill for this service.
He says its simply an added layer of support and oversight for his employees: "Like if we would hire a new employee, it would be nice to have their captain visualizing his work without [the captain] having to necessarily be on every single call with them."
Assistant City Attorney Jeff Solterman told the committee he would draft language that was part of the city's ambulance ordinance years ago that outlined parameters of the work the vehicle can perform.
The city had issues with paramedics "freelancing" on calls years ago that created liability issues, which Echo representatives says it's happy to avoid. The commission voted unanimously to make the recommendation to the city council to allow the ordinance change to put the vehicle into service. The action by the city council is expected sometime later this month.