When a three-year-old child nearly drowned in a pool in east Columbus Saturday just before 11:45 a.m., it was the seventh emergency call to Baptist Memorial Hospital-Golden Triangle’s ambulance service requiring emergency transport in the city during that time frame, according to a hospital statement issued to media outlets around the state Monday.
Baptist has a fleet of nine ambulances, five of which are in service “a majority of the time,” according to information Baptist marketing director Megan Pratt provided The Dispatch on Tuesday, though a hospital spokesperson said on background Monday that the hospital had four in service Saturday at around 11:45 a.m. when the child fell into the pool. Because the ambulances in service were taking other patients to the hospital, EMT-trained firefighters who responded to the scene took the child to Baptist in a Columbus Fire and Rescue fire truck with a police escort.
The child was later taken to Batson Children’s Hospital in Jackson via ground ambulance where he is recovering.
“Unfortunately, community resources are not infinite, and there are times where an unpredictably large amount of emergency call volume taxes the emergency system,” said hospital assistant administrator Bill Lancaster in the information he and Pratt provided The Dispatch about the hospital’s ambulance service. “Though these spikes in call demand cannot be totally predicted or eradicated, we conduct regular analyses of our historical call volume and adjust our staffing plan accordingly, as well as work with our first responder and mutual aid partners, to prepare for and reduce the frequency of these incidents.”
He said Baptist’s average response time for responding to calls is nine minutes, two seconds for Lowndes County over the past six months, according to a database managed by Mississippi Department of Health Bureau of Emergency Medical Services — lower than the national average of 12-15 minutes in rural communities. Each ambulance in service is staffed with a minimum of one EMT and one paramedic, and all those staff are licensed by the state of Mississippi with Emergency Driver’s licenses. The four to five ambulances not in service at a particular time are called into service when one of the other ambulances needs maintenance.
Hospital and ambulance officials also take factors that can affect the number of emergency calls, such as inclement weather, into account when planning and adjusting the number of staff and ambulances in service at a given time.
“For example, during the tornado in February 2019, we called in extra ambulance personnel to staff all nine ambulances to respond to the community need,” Lancaster said in the information.
Typically when a 911 call comes in, Lancaster explained in the information he sent to The Dispatch, it goes through an E-911 dispatcher who routes it to Baptist’s ambulance service, and the first available ambulance answers the call.
While multiple first responders told The Dispatch off the record that it’s not uncommon for ambulances to be delayed arriving to a scene, it is uncommon for other first responders to have to drive patients to the hospital.
“I’ve been there 32 years,” CFR Chief Martin Andrews told The Dispatch Saturday. “This is the first time I’ve ever heard of them doing that.”
The statement Baptist issued Monday said the firefighters taking the child to the hospital is an example of the 911 system working as it should, with other first responders trained in medical first aid able to step in.
“In those cases when all of our ambulances are dispatched on 911 calls, other first responders in the city and county assist those in need by responding to the scene and administering life-saving care,” the statement said. “It is a testimony of how the 911 system is supposed to work. The fire department’s quick action saved this child’s life when they brought the child to our hospital.”
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