JEFFERSONVILLE, Ind. — The Clark County Commissioners voted Thursday night to begin discussions to possibly replace New Chapel EMS as the county-wide ambulance provider.
The vote comes as New Chapel EMS, formerly ran by former Clark County Sheriff Jamey Noel, has been dealing with leadership changes and staffing issues.
New Chapel's average response time in Clark County was 10 minutes and 31 seconds in June, but rural townships like Monroe had an average response of 17 minutes and 27 seconds, and Borden-Wood’s was 19 minutes and two seconds.
“I just remember, you know, waiting on them to show up, and I'm holding my daughter in my hands because I don't know what to do,” Gregory Weathers said, whose then 3-day-old daughter Natalya needed an ambulance on March 20.
Natalya started convulsing, her lips turned blue and she wouldn’t respond, according to her parents. Her mom Janie Weathers called 911 at 5:11 p.m.
“And with me being a first-time mom and her being so young, I mean, I kind of was like, I gave you all the information I have just please send help,” Janie said.
New Chapel EMS was dispatched at 5:12 p.m. Charlestown Police and Fire responded within five minutes and seven minutes of the call. Janie did notice at 5:18 p.m. that Natalya did begin to breathe normally, but she says the baby would not open her eyes or respond to her.
“When I knew she was breathing, I was like, okay, at least she's breathing and not completely unconscious and unresponsive,” Weathers said.
New Chapel arrived at 5:35 p.m., 23 minutes after being dispatched. Ten more minutes later, they started driving to Norton Children’s Hospital in Louisville. The crew did not use its emergency lights or flashers.
“No lights on the way to the hospital just a normal…normal ride,” Weathers said.
“Within four minutes of dispatch, the child was back to breathing and stable, so it was no longer a time-sensitive situation from a medical evaluation standpoint,” S. Coy Travis said, a spokesperson for New Chapel EMS.
Travis also says there were six other EMS runs in the county when Janie called, and that’s why the response was abnormally long.
“Our contract with Clark County is to provide six trucks, so we went one truck beyond that to respond to that call,” Travis said.
After five days of tests at Norton Children’s, doctors told Janie and Gregory that Natalya was fine, and just that she “didn’t have full control of her muscles and nerves while sleeping.”
While Natalya's situation didn’t end up being life-threatening, county leaders have lost their trust in New Chapel to be able to cover the whole county.
“Currently New Chapel EMS, they don’t have the staff to meet the contract." EMA Director Gavan Hebner said to the Clark County Commissioners Thursday. "I recommend that we reach out to other partners, to find a solution to cover EMS units and EMS calls in this community. So that our citizens know when they call 911, they will get an ambulance."
Hebner said he wants to “find a provider that can stabilize the situation now”, and then “work in the background to amend the public safety plan to create a long-term solution for EMS in Clark County.”
The commissioners voted 3-0 to give Hebner the power to lead these discussions and get back to them with recommendations.
New Chapel will likely be involved in the coverage plans going forward, they just won’t be the sole provider receiving county funds. Right now agencies like Tri-Township Fire Rescue and New Washington Fire Department have been doing advanced life support transports to the hospital, but they are not getting county funding.
New Chapel EMS remains the ambulance provider for all of Clark County, with other agencies providing mutual aid, until the commissioners formally approve a new plan. A previous version of this story didn’t accurately portray that.