DEKALB COUNTY, Ga. — An ambulance company accused of being plagued with slow response times and unruly employees just got a contract extension in DeKalb County.
AMR, or American Medical Response, has come under fire several times in the past year after major missteps in service.
On one occasion, one of the company’s ambulances got stuck in the grass of I-285 after one of the paramedics missed their exit. A 3-year-old boy in the back was suffering from a seizure and needed to get to the hospital quickly. In another instance, an EMT was caught on video punching a teenage patient after spitting on her. That employee, Deanna Williams, lost her job and was charged with battery. The biggest complaint against the company, overall – slow response times.
Despite the criticism of the ambulance provider, the DeKalb County Board of Commissioners extended its contract, Tuesday, in a vote of 6-to-1. Commissioner Nancy Jester was the only hold out.
11Alive’s Natisha Lance talked to Jester who said she was not trying to make a statement on AMR, one way or another, with the vote.
“There have certainly been issues with the contract compliance with AMR, so I don't want to suggest there has not been,” she said.
She acknowledged those issues led to the county to fining AMR more than $1.5 million in the last year. The company agreed to new standards of service, but response times have still lagged.
But DeKalb Fire and Rescue Chief Darnell Fullman said it was “prudent” to go forward with the extension, regardless of who gets a final contract, because without an extension, the county would have been left without an ambulance company.
“There would be this need for a transition period if there was a new vendor on board,” Fullman explained.
A committee is expected to make a recommendation at the end of the month with proposals from other companies. This is not the first time AMR has been granted an extension. This one will expire in September.