Service problems

Pittsylvania County continues to debate how best to offer emergency medical services to all of its residents.

In some communities, volunteer rescue squads are able to quickly cover their territory and promptly respond to EMS calls. In other parts of the county, vast distances, scarce volunteers and other problems have led to slow service — a potentially life-threatening situation.

Just over the state line in North Carolina, the debate over EMS was settled a long time ago. EMS in the Tar Heel state is a county government agency, just like the public schools, health department and the sheriff’s office.

While volunteers are part of the picture, paid EMS agencies are the predominant service providers in North Carolina. But that doesn’t mean that there aren’t issues and controversies to be dealt with.

The Caswell County Board of Commissioners has been debating the EMS policy to transport the sick and injured to the closest appropriate facility.

“The majority of our patients do go to the closest facility,” said Jim Gusler, director of Caswell EMS. “… It’s not a black and white policy. It can’t be, it has to have some gray areas to allow EMS personnel to make the decisions they are trained to make, the decisions that are in the best interest of the patient.”

Jeanne Riddick West recently spoke to Commissioners about the issue on behalf of her late father, Sam Riddick, who died Sept. 3.

“My family takes issue with the statement about this service being used as a taxi service,” West said. “Is there abuse of this service? Yes, but don’t penalize the people who really need this service.”

West’s father fought multiple myeloma, an incurable cancer of the plasma cells, for 18 years. His doctors and medical records were at Durham Regional Hospital, requiring that he be taken there.

As Pittsylvania County struggles with how best to offer emergency medical services to its residents, it has to be mindful of the complexity of the issue and the shades of gray it’s dealing with. There’s a lot more to EMS than getting ambulances staffed, stocked and on the road. Pittsylvania County owes its citizens an understanding of just how complex this issue is — and how important it is to get it right.