NATCHEZ, Miss. – The head of Adams County’s ambulance service said patients it brings to Merit hospital’s emergency room are having to wait too long to be admitted into the emergency room.
AMR regional manager Tim Houghton said he plans to meet with Merit hospital’s chief administrator to discuss the long waits, which have recently averaged 35 minutes. Houghton said state law requires it to be less than 30 minutes.
Houghton said he has scheduled a meeting with Merit Health Natchez’ new CEO, Kevin Samrow.
Houghton said his American Medical Response vehicles and paramedics are held up with on-board patients as they await being taken into the hospital for the ER staff to tend to.
While saying the wait time for AMR can be more than 30 minutes at the hospital, Houghton noted it took the ambulance service in July only about nine minutes on average to respond to calls inside Natchez and about 15 minutes outside town in Adams County.
He presented his regular report Monday to the Adams County Board of Supervisors, which has designated AMR the county’s primary ambulance service.
Supervisors also discussed major changes in store for Natchez-Adams County’s emergency dispatching system as the county board makes plans to move the E911 call center from the county jail to a building it bought off Liberty Road.
The county jail building has been plagued for several years by structural problems – with the most recent being a water line busted by inmates that flooded the building, including E911 operations housed in the basement.
While county and city officials have been discussing in recent years the need to move the emergency-call operations they jointly fund, no agreement has been reached by the supervisors, mayor and aldermen on where to relocate.
Plans and costs for reconfiguring the county’s newly purchased building for E911 operations are being hashed out, said county board attorney Scott Slover. When finalized, he said, supervisors will present the proposition to Natchez Mayor Dan Gibson and aldermen for them to decide if they want to continue the consolidated E911 operations in the new building.
It’s been costing about $660,000 a year to operate the local E911 service, with Adams County and Natchez jointly paying the expenses. In addition to a new facility, upgraded equipment is needed to replace antiquated fixtures, according to E911 operators.
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The Adams County Board of Supervisors on Monday imposed a burn ban effective through August as the area endures a drought.
During the burn ban, anything with an open flame that produces an ember is not allowed, including fire pits, campfires, bonfires, debris burnings and field burnings. People caught burning illegal fires can be fined up to $500 if found guilty.
State law does provide exemptions for certain burnings, according to the Mississippi Forestry Commission.
For more information about the burn ban, call the Adams County Emergency Management Office at 601 442-7021, or go to the Mississippi Forestry Commission’s website: www.mfc.ms.gov/burning-info/burn-bans/
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The Adams County Board of Supervisors agreed Monday to give poll workers a pay raise – just in time for today’s party primaries. Their Election Day pay will be $200.
County election commissioners say it’s difficult hiring poll workers, who typically toil 14 hours straight signing in voters and processing ballots.
Adams County has about 150 poll workers for 19 voting places, said county Election Commissioner Larry Gardner, who noted last month about a dozen more were needed for today’s election.
A new state law sets their Election Day pay at $75 with county supervisors authorized to increase that by $125 per election.
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