By Caleb McCluskey
Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal
TUPELO, Miss. — Ridgeland-headquartered Pafford Emergency Medical Services will be taking over ambulance services in Lee County starting in early March, with plans to intake all North Mississippi Health Serves emergency employees.
On Monday, elected officials heard a presentation about the service transfer from North Mississippi Health Services to Pafford Emergency Medical Services, with Pafford’s Mississippi Deputy Director of Operations Daniel Cross explaining the process and fielding questions.
“It’s a very humbling opportunity to serve EMS in North Mississippi,” he said. “We’ve wanted to be in this area for a long time. We know the first responders are passionate about the job that they do…. It is important that we meet the needs of your community on emergency response, and we are going to do our best job at that.”
While the transition has already begun, Cross said the company will take over operations on March 2 . In the meantime, preparations include hiring and transferring employees from NMHS to Pafford. Cross said all employees currently in service have the opportunity to switch to the new provider.
Alongside the ambulance service, Pafford will also take over the CareFlight medical helicopter service. The goal, Cross said, is to have 17 to 20 trucks in the area with six to eight on call at all times. He added that the quantity of vehicles was less important than response time, which the company hopes to range around 10 minutes in the city and 15 to 18 minutes in the county.
Cross said costs for ambulance services in the area should not change.
The service will be connected to local enhanced 911 without a middleman, Cross said. The system will also have its own dispatchers as well who can be a third person on an emergency call.
Pafford EMS currently serves 25 counties in Mississippi in the Gulf Coast, Central Mississippi and the Delta, including Adams, Hancock, Madison, Ridgeland and Yazoo counties. Cross said talks began about six months ago between the two systems.
“This business decision is an opportunity for redesign that directly aligns with our mission,” NMHS Chief Operating Officer David Wilson said in a press release last week. “This transition ensures we can continue to provide high-quality, patient-centered care while adapting to changing demands and challenges in health care, ensuring we remain responsive and capable of meeting the needs of our patients and communities.”
With the transition, Cross said, the system plans to upgrade the services by renovating existing vehicles and adding technology.
One issue District 5 Supervisor Barry Parker brought up was NMHS’s issues retaining ambulance drivers. Cross said Pafford provides its own testing and certifications, noting that the biggest issue in the industry is actually keeping paramedics. Cross said the “shelf life” for a paramedic is about four years before they burn out.
Lee County Coroner Carolyn Green asked Cross if the system will continue to uphold agreements with the coroner’s office to transport dead-on-arrival patients to North Mississippi Medical Center. Cross said that agreement is still in place.
District 1 Supervisor George Rutledge asked if the company could make milestone reports to the board while the transition continues. Cross said he hoped to come before the board monthly to discuss the process.
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