‘Big impact’: Senate passes bill that could improve ambulance response times after WLBT investigation exposed Hinds County issues

JACKSON, Miss. (WLBT) - Lacy Thomas tried to stifle her excitement Friday as she walked into a Walgreens drugstore.

The Hinds County resident had just learned that the Mississippi Senate had approved a bill requiring ambulance providers to include “mutual aid” provisions in their contracts.

Had the provisions been in place years ago, Thomas says her late mother and father wouldn’t have had to wait hours for critical care to arrive.

“That’s the way it should be,” she said. “I hate that so many people had to pay the price for it. But that’s awesome.”

On Friday, the Senate approved H.B. 1644, which would require providers who offer exclusive services to cities and counties to reach out to other ambulance companies in certain cases where they cannot respond.

The measure was passed with near-unanimous support, with just one lawmaker absent or not voting.

The bill will now go to the governor’s desk for his signature. If Gov. Tate Reeves signs the bill, it will be effective on July 1.

Rep. Shanda Yates, the bill’s author, said WLBT’s two-part investigation into Hinds County response times played a role in the legislation’s creation.

“I think it’s a simple piece of legislation that will hopefully have a big impact on probably a small number of people, but for the people it will touch, it could be life-altering,” said Yates. “That’s certainly the goal of that legislation, the intent of the legislation, and I’m thrilled that we were able to see it pushed through.”

Our reporting revealed that for the first four months of 2023, AMR failed to meet contracted times in nearly half of all Priority One emergency calls.

The number did not include calls that were impacted by certain exemptions impacting response times, like poor road conditions, obstructions, severe weather, and system overload, which occurs when more than seven emergency transport calls are in progress.

It did include calls that were hampered by a lack of staffing and lengthy wall times, or the amount of time ambulances wait at the hospital for their patients to be off-loaded.

Yates’ bill would require exclusive providers to reach out to other companies during times when staffing and equipment shortages impact their abilities to respond.

“This seemed like the best option, the most straightforward option,” she said. “There were issues not just in Jackson, but across the state. I think I saw an issue in Columbus. There were issues on the coast with response times. This is something that touches the whole state.”

Existing contracts would not be impacted. Instead, the bill states that the mutual aid clauses must be included in any new contracts or current contract extensions.

“That was stipulations in trying to make sure that we could get it pushed through,” Yates said. “It won’t technically impact existing contracts as they stand at the moment, but once those contracts come up for renewal... this new bill will apply.”

Yates crafted the measure with the input of the Mississippi Ambulance Alliance, which has representatives from AMR.

“They looked at the language and didn’t have any issue,” she said. “As far as I know, they are fine with the language and there was no issue. If they opposed it in any way, shape, or form, they certainly did that without my knowledge.”

Sen. David Parker, who presented the bill on the floor of the Senate, alluded to that fact in his comments.

“I had a potential amendment prepared for this and put that out to the ambulance services. What I learned from that was that this is agreed upon language, and there is some fragility into making this happen, and so I did not elect to bring that amendment forward,” he said.

The legislation does not include any enforcement provisions, something Yates says likely won’t prevent it from being followed.

However, it’s something that Sen. Sollie Norwood, a supporter of the bill, questioned. “[If] the ambulance services have not cooperated, then this does not criminalize this?” he asked.

“This doesn’t,” Parker said. “That might be something to consider in the future if we find that this doesn’t create a remedy for the problem here.”

Sen. Gary Brumfield asked whether callers would be charged for two ambulances if this resulted in two responding to the same emergency.

“Hopefully, the agreement would be that the dispatchers [are] dispatching one or the other right there,” Parker responded. “I would say that, you know, is just my personal feeling on it... I don’t see a time where that would happen.”

Jackson City Council Vice-President Angelique Lee thanked the legislature for its support, saying her discussions regarding the county’s ambulance response times, as well as her insistence that the city issue its own RFP for ambulance services, put the issue to the forefront.

An RFP is a request for proposals. Cities issue requests when seeking professional services, such as ambulance service providers.

Jackson issued an RFP in August, less than two months after several residents came forward raising concerns about the poor response times in Hinds County.

Those residents included Donna Echols, who told the council she waited 90 minutes for an ambulance to arrive at her home after she reported that her ex-husband suffered a stroke. He died seven days later in a local intensive care unit.

An ambulance with another company was located just minutes away in Madison County but couldn’t cross into Hinds County because of AMR’s exclusive contract.

Another resident, Shirley Thiac, told the council she waited for two hours for paramedics to respond to her South Jackson home back in December 2021 after her husband Philip suffered a stroke.

The ambulance never showed up, and she was forced to drive Philip to the hospital herself. The Vietnam veteran never made a full recovery and died six months later.

Thomas, meanwhile, waited more than two and a half hours this summer for paramedics to respond to her Hinds County home after she called 911 for her mother. In that case, her mother was having trouble breathing.

An AMR dispatcher told Thomas they were backed up at the time and it would take a while for an ambulance to arrive. When one did, the paramedic asked why Thomas didn’t take her mother to the hospital herself.

She said it was more of the same a few years earlier when it took more than 30 minutes for help to arrive after her father was having breathing problems. Those responders went into the wrong house, despite the address on her home being clearly marked.

Said Thomas, “They’ve gotten to where if they don’t like what you say they will hang up on you.”

Jackson’s RFP would have mandated providers to include a “helping hands clause” to allow other companies to respond in the event of equipment or personnel shortages, and to enter into a mutual aid agreement with another company within 30 days of being brought on.

However, the RFP has been stalled by the court system. In November, Hinds County Chancery Judge Dewayne Thomas blocked the city from moving forward, saying doing so would violate the terms of the county’s AMR contract.

AMR provides exclusive service in Hinds County. And Jackson, with some 145,000 residents, is the largest part of its customer base.

On November 30, attorneys for the capital city asked Thomas to reconsider. As of April 5, the judge has not responded to that request.

See WLBT’s previous ambulance coverage below:

‘Beyond belief’: Jackson woman says ex-husband died after waiting 90 minutes for ambulance

‘Life-saving clauses’: Jackson issues request for proposals for ambulance services

‘I could have had him a little bit longer’: 3OYS finds AMR fails to meet response time mandates in Hinds Co. contract

‘Who’s supposed to keep up with this?’: Analysis shows AMR defaulted on Hinds Co. contract months ago

‘Mutual aid’ bills could improve ambulance response times across the state

Bill that could improve ambulance response times clears Mississippi House

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