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County outlines triage destination policy and reports fewer times with only one ambulance in county
Summary
Emergency Services Director Rodney Cates briefed the board on triage destination protocols that route STEMI, stroke, critical trauma, burns and critical pediatrics to higher-level centers. He said the policy has helped decrease times the county was reduced to one or zero ambulances despite a rise in call volume.
Emergency Services Director Rodney Cates told commissioners the county’s triage-destination plan directs EMS crews to prioritize transporting certain critical patients (STEMI, stroke, critical trauma, burns and critical pediatrics) to higher-level centers when appropriate to improve overall system availability.
Cates presented a comparison of operational data: in 2017 EMS ran about 17,709 calls; the county went down to one truck 834 times and had 155 zero-truck events. In 2025 the county responded to 19,044 calls; it recorded 325 one-truck events and 118 zero-truck events. Cates said that change reflects fewer times the system was critically thin and that triage destination helps keep more trucks in the county for new calls.
He explained that medics follow protocol books on every truck and that mutual-aid agreements assist coverage. Cates said turnaround time at out-of-county hospitals can be near two hours, so those transports require weighing benefits for individual patients against system availability. He also said policy generally discourages out-of-county transports when three or fewer ambulances remain available in county.
Commissioners praised the data and asked questions about turnaround time and future staffing and station plans; Cates said planned station deployments and partnerships will help address growth-driven demand.
