Authority reviews ambulance response times, staffing and stationing as calls rise

At the Analyst Authority meeting Sept. 18 Director Paul reported August operational metrics and staffing status, prompting a board discussion about response-time outliers and potential stationing adjustments. Why it matters: board members said elevated response times in certain corridors could require different unit placement or increased staffing to maintain emergency coverage. Paul, the authority director, gave an operational summary: total calls for August, an average response time of 7 minutes 7 seconds, average on-scene time and an average total call time of about 47 minutes. He said the busiest day was Saturday and the busiest hour 10 a.m. to 11 a.m. Paul also reported transports to regional hospitals and call volumes by zone (examples given: Manchester, Tullahoma north/south, New Union). Board members pressed for a breakdown of calls that exceed 20 minutes and where responding units originated. One board member said some long responses result when units from Manchester or South Station travel far (for example, travel up route 55 to Beech Grove), creating 40-minute trips that can tie up resources. Paul and others noted staffing remains constrained but improving: no newly hired paramedics since the prior meeting, several EMT hires and one EMT in orientation, and at least one person in paramedic school. New Union station staffing has been "pretty regular" though not at 100 percent. The board discussed using CAD (computer-aided dispatch) and NEMSIS reporting or comm center reports to stratify calls into buckets (0–5, 5–10, 10–20, 20+ minutes) to identify patterns. Paul and others agreed the comm center can run bracketed response-time reports; the board directed staff to work with the comm center to produce reports showing calls over 20 minutes and the originating unit to support stationing and manning decisions. Ending: The board asked staff to return with a response-time report and staffing implications at the next meeting to inform decisions about additional units or station adjustments.