Ark Valley News - LEAVING THE STATION

Sedgwick County EMS Medic 25 leaves the Valley Center Public Safety Building Nov. 21 to station itself closer to Wichita, where most EMS calls come from.

LEAVING THE STATION
By Chris Strunk
Last Updated: December 08, 2016

Ambulance time in Valley Center cut to 2 hours a day

If you live in Valley Center and want an ambulance, you'll have to wait a little longer these days.

Sedgwick County EMS crews, formerly stationed at the Valley Center Public Safety Building on East Fifth from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. seven days a week, aren't there very much anymore. Crews report to the station for about an hour in the mornings and then routinely leave Valley Center for positions closer to Wichita, which is where the heavier call loads are coming from. The crews then return to Valley Center at night for about an hour to catch up on paperwork.

That practice, which started Nov. 1 and essentially leaves the city without an ambulance for about 22 hours per day, routinely translates into longer response times in Valley Center.

Calls that were responded to in five minutes are now taking as long as 10 minutes or longer.

Scott Hadley, Sedgwick County EMS director, said the county's goal is to respond to Priority 1 calls in 10 minutes or less 90 percent of the time.

One such call came from the 9100 block of North Seneca at 10:31 a.m. Nov. 23. It was dispatched at 10:33 as a "sick person," which is classified as a Priority 1 call. Valley Center firefighters, who also respond to medical calls, arrived at the residence at 10:36 (a 3-minute response time from the Public Safety Building). After assessing the patient, an EMT with the fire department triaged the person's condition as code green, which means not serious, at 10:46 a.m. The ambulance, which would have slowed down to regular speed after receiving the non-serious triage, arrived one minute later (a response time of 13 minutes and 28 seconds).

The medic normally assigned to Valley Center responded to the call, but it was unclear where the ambulance responded from.

Another example was Nov. 18 in the 700 block of West Deerfield. Dispatchers sent first-responders and EMS to a patient with difficulty breathing, another Priority 1 call, at 5:40 p.m. A Valley Center police officer arrived in less than two minutes and triaged the patient as serious. Firefighters, responding from their homes to the station and then to the call, arrived at 5:48 p.m. (an 8-minute response time). The ambulance arrived at 5:52 (a response time of 11 minutes and 54 seconds).

The medic assigned to the station near 53rd and I-135 responded to the call.

A third example was Nov. 17 in the 400 block of North Park. Dispatched as a patient with chest pains at 5:58 p.m., firefighters, responding from the station, arrived at 6:04 (a 6-minute response time) and triaged the patient as serious, a Priority 1 call, at 6:07. The ambulance arrived just after 6:07 (a response time of 9 minutes and 34 seconds).

The medic assigned to the station on 53rd responded to the call.

Thankfully for Valley Center residents in need, the city's firefighters who respond to medical calls are trained as EMTs. While they can — and often do — perform a variety of life-saving procedures, EMTs can't duplicate all of the services of a paramedic, nor can a firetruck transport a patient to the hospital.

Hadley said the new staffing measures in Valley Center are a response to an overall increase in demand across the county, but primarily from Wichita, where 85 percent of the department's daily calls come from.

Hadley said EMS is looking at the system as a whole, trying to balance citizens' expectations of availability and response times with limited resources. He said he understands that residents expect to receive a quick response from an available ambulance 24 hours per day. However, staging the crew at locations other than Valley Center "doesn't mean that Valley Center is getting poor service."

The EMS response system is fluid, he said, requiring ambulances to shuffle positions around the county throughout the day. Guided by a GPS-based computer program, the next available ambulance responds to the next closest call, he said. It makes no difference whether the call is from inside the city limits or not.

For example, on Nov. 21, the Valley Center ambulance crew left the Public Safety Building just after 9 a.m., went to Kwik Shop, and then traveled south on Meridian and parked on a street in the 4400 block of North Meridian in Wichita, where it waited for calls or orders to move to another location.

But more often, the ambulance has been leaving Valley Center to staff another station.

Richard Ranzau, Sedgwick County commissioner who represents Valley Center, said the system that directs ambulance crews to different locations at various times of the day — based on computer-tracked call volumes and locations — is necessary.

However, when he learned that the Valley Center ambulance was being sent to the county's EMS station at K-96 and Hillside on a regular basis, he wanted that to change.

"I don't like that system," Ranzau said.

But it's still about how best to use the resources the department has available, Hadley said.

Through October, the Valley Center-based crew was the leading example of an underutilized ambulance in Sedgwick County.

Looking at usage rates, Hadley said, the Valley Center ambulance (before the Nov. 1 change) worked on calls 15 percent of the time during a 12-hour shift. By comparison, Hadley said some units in the department approached 70 percent.

"There's a large disparity there," he said. "… I know it's comforting for people that it's sitting there, but when a call comes out that requires a first responder and an ambulance, that first closest ambulance goes."

When the Valley Center ambulance isn't available for a Valley Center call, crews from the station near 53rd and I-135 are the first to respond (if they're available), which naturally increases response times.

"Through our analysis of the past year or two, looking at demand, (the Valley Center ambulance) is the most underutilized resource we have in the system," Hadley said. "… We want to see if we can more effectively or efficiently meet our citizens' demands or requests."

The entire system generates 175 calls per day. In Valley Center, the average is about one. In the first 10 months of 2016, the ambulance responded to 158 calls in Valley Center and 480 calls outside of the city.

"We're trying to see if this helps better address system challenges that we have seen," Hadley said.

Hadley said a total of 13 ambulances are on call during the overnight hours, while 19 are stationed throughout the county during the day.

"We're monitoring this very closely," Hadley said. "We're constantly looking at ways to be as responsive as we can."

Hadley said he and his staff will continue to evaluate staffing needs and response times. The arrangement in Valley Center is not necessarily a permanent one.

"Right now, it's early into the transition and we're monitoring that," Hadley said.

There is some help on the way.

Hadley said the department is slated to add one ambulance to its fleet next year. It will be based in Wichita, which could help soften the demand on ambulances stationed in other parts of the county, such as Valley Center.