WAYNE ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥” While waiting for its county-wide EMS system to get up and running, Wayne County will have some extra help in the form of another Jan-Care ambulance to operate 24/7 within the county for an expected three months starting Monday.
The Wayne County Commission, during its Thursday meeting, approved the addendum to its existing 911 Service Agreement with Jan-Care Ambulance Services and approved a month-to-month lease agreement with James C. Frazier for the rental of a two-bedroom house at 34 Mound St. in Prichard to provide ambulance service out of.
Commission President Travis Thompson said the additional ambulance is a ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥œstopgapÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥ until the county-wide EMS service is operating.
ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥œIf we get Wayne County ambulances operating in a month, then weÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™re going to go with them as soon as we can possibly get them on the road,ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥ he said.
B.J. Willis, director of Wayne County 911/county emergency manager, also said during the meeting that he would reach out to Clinton Burley, president and CEO of HealthNet Aeromedical Services/Health Team Critical Care Transport, to see if there was any way he could help expedite the process of securing the licenses for the county-wide ambulance system.
In the meantime, both Jan-Care ambulances operating in the county will be running 24/7, but the ambulance running out of the Radnor/Genoa area is an Advanced Life Support ambulance, while the ambulance running out of Prichard is a Basic Life Support ambulance. Depending on an ambulanceÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™s licensure and staff membersÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™ qualifications, ambulances can provide advanced support, which has paramedic capabilities, or basic support.
Following the three month term, Jan-Care return to the terms of the original agreement, with reimbursement to be paid at the established rate of $40 per hour.
Thompson said this would equate to around $90,000 total for the three months.
According to the rental lease agreement for the property in Prichard, the commission is renting the property for $750 a month and was also required to pay a $1,000 security deposit at the singing of the lease.
According to the agreement, the commission or the landlord of the Prichard property could terminate the lease with one monthÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™s notice to the other party.
The idea of putting a Jan-Care service in that part of the county until the county-wide EMS service is up and running came up during the commissionÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™s regular meeting March 10, when Thompson and Commissioner Enoch Jay Marcum shared concerns they had heard about local EMS response in the Prichard area.
Making the decision
Commissioner Ryan Turner inquired about if the county could afford to add another Jan-Care ambulance at the expected cost for three months of service, a matter Thompson also discussed. After learning there would be $974,550 left in the countyÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™s opioid settlement fund after subtracting an outstanding invoice, Thompson said he thinks the county can afford the cost of the $90,000 for three months. He and Willis also mentioned some future funding sources that will be coming in ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥” billing once the county-wide system is up and running and the excess levy, which kicks in July 1.
Willis also shared the countyÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™s EMS call and response data for January-March 2025 with the commission.
For example, EMS providers that serve Wayne County received a total of 3,132 alerts and had a total of 1,478 responses to alerts in that time frame.
Willis said for a large portion of the calls, the station answered on the first set of tones/alerts, but there have been times when emergency personnel have gone through every station in the county at least two times, if not more, before someone is able to take the call; there are times when stations get called multiple times before finally an ambulance responds. He said he thought adding another ambulance would help.
Willis also shared that WayneÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™s area, which has the most square miles to cover, also has the most calls coming out of it.
According to the data and a map identifying the Wayne County EMS response zones, areas in Wayne County had the following percentage of total calls coming in:
- Wayne EMS response area (181 square miles): 27%
- Ceredo EMS response area (12.36 square miles): 20%
- Kenova EMS response area (21.1 square miles): 20%
- Prichard EMS response area (90.4 square miles): 14%
- Lavalette EMS response area (36.8 square miles): 13%
- Jan-Care EMS response area, previously the Dunlow EMS response area (169 square miles): 7%
Willis also identified the Lavalette, Prichard and Wayne EMS areas as needing the most help, as he said Lavalette VFD, Prichard VFD and Wayne VFD each answered less than 50% of the calls within their own area.
ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥œIdeally, if I was going to add another ambulance, IÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™d like to do it in the Wayne area, but if we donÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™t have a house available, we donÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™t have a house available,ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥ Willis said.
Willis said the EMS agencies that serve Wayne County go all over the county; however, he added that whenever the county looks at putting a permanent EMS agency in, it needs to look at where the volume of the calls are, because, if not, the ambulances will get worn out quickly.
Marcum said he noticed in WillisÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™ data that not many calls ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥” 7%, the lowest percentage in the county from January to March 2025 ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥” occurred in the Jan-Care area.
ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥œThat tells me that where (the Jan-Care ambulance in the Genoa/Radnor area is) at right now needs to be moved,ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥ Marcum said.
