Area Ambulance Service reports rising call volume, response-time improvements and new post planned in Marion

Jennifer Peden, chief operations officer for Area Ambulance Service (AREA), told the Marion City Council on Feb. 4 that AREA’s daily call volume and deployments have grown and that the agency is pursuing operational and staffing changes to improve response-time performance.

AREA reported an average of 88.5 calls for service per day systemwide through Jan. 15, with 11 daily calls originating in Marion; they average 69 transports daily and about nine of those transports begin in Marion, Peden said. AREA measures response performance using a fractile standard: 9 minutes for life-threatening calls (priority 11) and 12 minutes for non-life-threatening emergency calls (priority 12), with the goal of meeting those thresholds 90% of the time.

Peden said AREA historically missed the 90% fractile but has recently improved performance by adjusting where ambulances are posted. “We have increased the amount of time that we're posting in Marion,” she said, which has helped the agency reach calls more quickly. She noted a transition to running more incidents with lights and sirens because Marion dispatch does not currently use emergency medical dispatch (EMD) scripting, a gap the agencies are working to close.

AREA told council it added capital assets (two ambulances, three remounts, power-load cots, three SUVs and radio upgrades) and that the board approved a new fixed post near Mercy’s standalone ED in Marion, a $1,500,000 project with construction starting in March. Peden said the post is intended to improve local availability and will match the new ED’s aesthetics.

The agency also contracted Fitch & Associates for a system study to evaluate deployment models, outcome-based key performance indicators and options to safely include basic life support (BLS) units alongside advanced life support (ALS) paramedic-staffed units. “About 40 percent of the calls that we respond to actually require that level of care,” Peden said of ALS interventions; the study is expected in March.

Council members asked whether transports to the new stand-alone hospital sites resulted in secondary ambulance transports back to main campuses. Peden said AREA tracks that and estimated 10–15 secondary transports in the last month; she offered to provide exact numbers later. She also described billing practice as carrier-dependent: when insurance information is available, AREA bills the carrier (Medicare/Medicaid/private), and patients may receive bills depending on coverage and deductibles.

Staff and council discussed partnerships: AREA participates in local planning groups, staffed community events, provides standbys for public-safety incidents and is collaborating to train EMTs and to become a paramedic training center in partnership with Purdue, with paramedic training hoped to start by year-end. AREA also noted advocacy that helped secure reimbursement for transports to a local mental health access center.

Questions from council touched on staffing, impacts of new EDs on transports and whether AREA would keep an ambulance based near the new Mercy ED; Peden said Fitch’s study will inform whether to maintain fixed posts or move to street‑corner deployments.