CLARK COUNTY, Indiana — A southern Indiana ambulance service operated without a paramedic on Thursday, fueling ongoing staffing concerns.
New Chapel EMS didn't have a paramedic on staff for several hours, which has some municipalities calling for a new emergency service provider.
The Clark County agency said the shortage was due to a "scheduling issue," adding that a paramedic clocked in at 6 p.m. on Thursday. Although EMTs can still provide basic life support, experts say a paramedic is needed for acute calls more than five minutes away from a hospital.
Tri-Township Fire has been providing mutual aid to help support New Chapel in the last few months.
Tri-Township Fire Chief Amir Mousavi said New Chapel's standard operating procedure of having one paramedic working at all times is a safety issue.
"That's not enough," Mousavi said. "There is no debate about that. That is not enough. My agency, covering a small area of 64-square-miles, making about 2,800 calls -- we have two paramedics on per day, plus myself, that's three."
Tri-Township had the fastest response times in Clark County last month, meanwhile New Chapel's response time has fluctuated over the spring and summer.
Clark County Health Officer Dr. Eric Yazel worries New Chapel employees are working a lot of overtime right now, and it is not sustainable. Written records from Clark County 911 dispatchers recently obtained by FOCUS show many other people are worried about the state of New Chapel.
"I understand it is not New Chapel's fault as to why they do not have units responding, however, it is starting to get very dangerous because our county does not have enough workers for ambulances," a 911 dispatcher wrote after a call in May took New Chapel's ambulances 37 minutes to respond to.
A spokesperson for New Chapel EMS said the agency has two employees in accelerated paramedic classes and two in advanced EMT class.
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