CLARK COUNTY, Ind. — Tri-Township Fire and Rescue is looking to bring ambulance services to Clark County.
"Over the last few decades, fire service has really been pushed into the arena of medical calls," Fire Chief Amir Mousavi said. "So this is just what we call a force multiplier...we're looking at our capacity to see if we can put two ambulances on duty, I think with two ambulances we'll be able to cover our own area very [effectively[."
Tri-Township Fire was previously privately owned, but is now a government entity. It serves Silver Creek, Carr and Union townships which includes the Town of Sellersburg, portions of the Town of Clarksville and Memphis, Indiana.
Funding would come from the fire station's general operating budget.
Mousavi said about 68% to 70% of the calls for service coming in to his station are medical calls. It's why he's since required all his firefighter EMTs become advanced EMTs.
"We were able to have five paramedics on duty today, which means our community really had great coverage," he said.
And that community is a major reason for the growing need for service.
"In the last 10 years, there's been well over 20% increase in the Tri-Township Fire protection area," Mousavi said.
Clark County is expanding rapidly with new residents due to new development. That population isn't just growing, it's getting older too.
"That means there's going to be a surge in, in need for services," Mousavi said.
He also pointed to the upside for an area that's offered private EMT services.
"My opinion, based on my years of training, education and experience is that critical services need to have more oversight from government and likely provided by government," Mousavi said.
Private services offered in the area include New Chapel EMS, which a WHAS11 News FOCUS investigation found, had an average response time of 10 minutes and 58 seconds.
"And I think the taxpayers have a right to be able to have direct input in those services and have oversight to their elected officials and sometimes appointed officials," Mousavi said.
There is no current timeline for when the ambulance service would be rolled out.
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