Richmond Ambulance Authority delivers 2024 annual report; council members ask for call‑center data

Chip Decker, chief executive officer of the Richmond Ambulance Authority (RAA), presented the RAA's 2024 written annual report to the Public Safety Standing Committee, as required by city code section 2‑7‑73.

Decker said the report, submitted in early December, summarized outreach, operations and financials. He cited an overall patient satisfaction rate of 98.5% and a top‑box patient engagement rate of 82%. He said RAA responded to about 53,000 calls and handled more than 39,000 transports in 2024, down from roughly 70,000 responses in pre‑COVID years.

Committee members raised questions about a transfer of emergency medical dispatch responsibilities to the Department of Emergency Communications (DEC). Decker and staff explained the current process: DEC call takers use the same interrogation system and enter information that routes to dispatch, and the ambulance authority receives the dispatch on the same computer‑aided dispatch feed. Decker said RAA remains an accredited center of excellence in emergency medical dispatch and hopes to resume direct dispatch in the future.

Committee members asked for clearer performance data comparing the period when RAA handled EMS call taking and dispatch to the period after DEC assumed the call‑taking role. Staff said the DEC system automatically calls back disconnected 911 callers and that abandoned calls are in the single digits, but they did not provide a precise percentage during the meeting. Members asked staff to prepare a side‑by‑side lookback (suggested 6‑month snapshots) on metrics such as time to answer, time to dispatch and other key performance indicators for the next meeting.

No formal vote was taken on staffing or dispatch policy at the meeting. Council members said they intend to reexamine the administrative decision to transfer call taking to DEC and requested the data lookback for discussion at a future meeting.