DeKalb officials say new AMR contract, NurseNav and whole‑blood program are improving EMS response

DeKalb County Chief Carter told the Employer Relations and Public Safety (IRPS) committee that a new contract with AMR, effective July 1, and a set of county programs have strengthened emergency medical services across the county.

The update, presented to Chair Ladina Bolton and commissioners, outlined contractual commitments, programs to reduce unnecessary transports and data showing improved response‑time trends since 2022. “As of July 1, we entered a new contract with our partner with AMR,” Chief Carter said, noting the AMR contract includes a minimum requirement of 600 AMR unit hours and a $200 penalty for each hour below that threshold.

County staff said AMR is averaging 676 unit hours and the county’s CAB EMS contribution is currently about 93 unit hours; the county’s operational goal is to field a combined total of up to 10 ambulances and to reach a 240‑unit‑hour target for CAB EMS. Chief Carter described NurseNav, a clinical triage pathway for lower‑priority 911 calls: dispatch screens eligible calls and diverts them to NurseNav to avoid unnecessary ambulance transports. “We get that data directly from NurseNav,” the chief said, and the program reports a 4.8 out of 5 patient satisfaction rating and that 92 percent of patients diverted by NurseNav did not call 911 again.

The presentation also highlighted the county’s whole‑blood program, launched in 2025, which the chief said has been used on critical calls; staff reported 123 units administered to date and described an estimated 90 percent survival rate for certain non‑traumatic cardiac‑arrest patients who received whole blood.

On performance metrics, the chief said systemwide response times have improved since 2022: priority‑1 responses are down about 2 minutes 22 seconds and priority‑2 responses about 2 minutes 52 seconds. He noted NFPA guidance suggests a five‑minute benchmark for priority‑1 calls but said target times can vary with density and call volumes.

Commissioners pressed for details. Commissioner Nicole Masaya thanked staff for reduced offload times and asked how savings from NurseNav were measured; the chief said the county has tracked unit availability but has not yet produced a dollarized savings estimate and offered to supply more analysis. Commissioner Robert Patrick asked about hospital offload (APOD) times — previously reported as high as roughly 55 minutes — and the chief said offload times have reduced but staff did not have a current system‑wide average at the meeting and agreed to follow up.

Next steps: commissioners requested more granular data (for example, January–June call volumes and concrete NurseNav referral/outcome counts for 2025) and fiscal‑impact estimates for NurseNav. Chief Carter said staff would provide the requested reports to commissioners’ offices.