Brookhaven Mayor John Park has declared that “time is up” on DeKalb County’s poor ambulance response times in the city.
Nearly a year ago, Brookhaven City Manager Christian Sigman suggested that DeKalb County allow Brookhaven to either establish its own EMS or enforce performance standards.
Now, Brookhaven plans to petition the state to let it sidestep DeKalb’s ambulance services contract with American Medical Rescue, making it the second city in the county to do so.
The city of Dunwoody expanded ambulance coverage in 2019 and approved a supplemental ambulance contract for $566,000 per year last November due to slow response times from the county.
“We are stepping up to the plate one more time, and hopefully the Department of Public Health will see that there is everything to gain and nothing to lose by giving Brookhaven the go-ahead,” Sigman said at a press conference on April 25.
“This is no longer a matter of if someone is going to lose their life over DeKalb County’s lack of response,” Park said. “Now we are at a point where the question is how many more will have to die before Brookhaven can take this service over.”
For four years, Brookhaven said they’ve asked DeKalb to improve ambulance response times. The city has tried ad hoc committees and petitions to the Department of Public Health to establish its own EMS operations.
Since 2017, the Georgia Department of Health has twice reviewed DeKalb County’s EMS services. DeKalb claims ambulance response times have improved by 4:35 minutes.
In 2020, in an effort to reduce ambulance response times, Brookhaven purchased and renovated an old QuikTrip station off Buford Highway and leased it to DeKalb at no cost. EMS response times have not improved.
In February, the DeKalb County Board of Commissioners unanimously approved $3.8 million in the 2024 budget to add 15 paramedics, five nurse practitioners, and five ambulances to enhance countywide service delivery. The county is installing a $5 million, state-of-the-art E-911 phone system.
DeKalb reports that Fitch and Associates, a nationally known leader in EMS and Ambulance system consulting, is completing an objective review of the county’s EMS system. It is unknown when the report will be released.