VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. — When we call 911 we expect a quick turnaround time for someone to help us but some city leaders are concerned with how challenges Virginia Beach EMS face could impact that timing.
"I don't think I could have taken him to the hospital with the way he was feeling in the car," Joann Fitchet, who lives in Virginia Beach, said.
Fitchet said she feels blessed to still have her best friend of more than 58 years around after her husband experienced issues with his pacemaker this past Spring.
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She said her husband had come into their home and begun feeling sick.
"A few minutes later I heard him screaming for me, I went in there [bedroom] and he was shaking terribly out of control," Fitchet said
Knowing that her husband already experienced a heart attack in his life, Fitchet called 911.
She said within eight minutes first responders were in her home to take care of her husband and bring him to the hospital.
"They were all very professional talking to him and talking to me and trying to keep me calm in the hallway," Fitchet said.
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Fitchet said because of the care Virginia Beach EMS provided her family, she's concerned knowing they're facing their own challenges.
During a presentation earlier this week, Virginia Beach EMS Chief Jason Stroud outlined three challenges his department is facing.
This includes staffing, the number of ambulances in the city's fleet, and funding.
Stroud said when it comes to staffing he expects this year to be the first time in four years they will retain more EMS volunteers than they've lost at the end of the year.
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However, when comparing those numbers to 2010 there are 250 fewer volunteers with 30,000 more calls today than 14 years ago.
Stroud said with the number of calls they receive the city is in need of ten additional ambulances which can take up to two years to have on the streets.
Then there's the funding needed to pay for that equipment.
City residents do not receive a bill when they need an ambulance but one new source the department is looking at is compassionate billing.
This billing is aimed at charging insurance companies and lowering out-of-pocket costs for patients.
"If you don't have the money they're not coming at you with collections this is simply sending the bill to the insurance," Councilman David Hutcheson, of District 1, said.
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Stroud said a conservative estimate of the potential revenue was from $14 million in the first year to $17 million in the fifth year
Hutcheson said he is concerned that if the city does not stay ahead of the department's needs it could impact response times for citizens.
"If we don't have enough engines and ambulances then they gotta come from the next station over if they're on a call starting out of the gate," Hutcheson said. "So that delays it and like I said if you have a nosebleed bleed that's bad but not the end of the world but if you're having a heart attack those minutes could mean life or death."
Chief Stroud said there is currently a study being done on compassionate EMS billion and those findings will be presented to council by the end of November.
