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Richmond Ambulance Authority Presents 2024 Annual Report; Committee Seeks Call-center Performance Data
Summary
Chip Decker, CEO of the Richmond Ambulance Authority, delivered the authority—s 2024 annual report and answered committee questions about the city—s transfer of emergency medical dispatch responsibilities from RAA to the Department of Emergency Communications; committee members requested comparative call-center performance data.
Chip Decker, chief executive officer of the Richmond Ambulance Authority, presented the authority—s 2024 annual report to the Public Safety Standing Committee and noted the RAA submitted a written report to the clerk—s office as required by city code.
Decker said the report highlights community outreach, operational statistics and financial reports, and cited performance figures including 98.5% overall patient satisfaction and a top-box engagement score of 82%. He said the authority responded to roughly 53,000 calls and provided more than 39,000 transports in the reporting year, numbers below pre-COVID volumes.
Committee members asked Decker about a recent administrative shift in emergency medical dispatch. Decker said the city—s Department of Emergency Communications (DEC) had stopped transferring calls to RAA and now performs emergency medical dispatch. He said RAA remains on the shared computer-aided dispatch system and continues to receive dispatches but that the administrative decision was made by the prior administration.
A DEC representative present at the meeting explained the 911 process: call takers enter information and the incident is routed to the appropriate dispatch desk and appears on RAA—s CAD at the same time because DEC and RAA are on the same dispatch system. The DEC speaker said automatic callbacks are used for disconnected 911 calls and that abandoned-call rates are "single digit numbers," though a specific percentage was not provided.
Committee members requested a data-driven comparison of call-center performance before and after the transfer: a suggested six-month snapshot of RAA-handled calls versus a six-month snapshot under DEC handling, with key performance indicators such as timeliness to answer and timeliness to dispatch. Committee members said they will pursue those metrics at the next meeting.
Decker noted regional recognition for RAA—s provider well-being programs and said the authority is an accredited center of excellence in emergency medical dispatch. Committee staff said they will follow up with the requested DEC/RAA data for the next meeting.
