Double Standard w/Ambulance service?

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As we all may or may not know, ambulance service for the city of Sioux Falls is provided by Paramedics Plus (including non-emergency transfers) and county service is provided by Med-Star. Which is fine, because having two companies providing service in the area is good for a back up plan in case of a major natural disaster, or other instances.

I was told on Friday (still checking to verify information)  that if Med-Star (the county provider) can’t provide immediate service in their service area, Paramedics Plus can assist.

But what is confusing is why can’t Med-Star be allowed to assist Paramedics Plus in the city limits if they need assistance? Or can they?

Posted in: Minnehaha County, SFFD, Sioux Falls

4 Thoughts on “Double Standard w/Ambulance service?”

  1. Michael Wyland on May 25, 2015 at 12:28 pm said:

    I’d want to confirm that MedStar is the provider in all six of Minnehaha County’s Ambulance PSAs. I know that MedStar was recently approved by the county for PSA 5.

  2. l3wis on May 25, 2015 at 9:09 pm said:

    So you are saying Med-Star ‘can’ assist Paramedics Plus in the city limits if they need help?

  3. Not a Fan on May 25, 2015 at 10:03 pm said:

    I don’t know the specifics of the new contract, but under the contract with Rural Metro, no other ambulance provider could come within the city limits and provide service without Rural Metro’s consent.

    Which they never gave, since that would cut into their profits, so 911 would dispatch a fire truck to babysit the patient until an ambulance became available.

    So even if two buses crashed into each other and there were 50 patients, and the fire personnel obviously knew that the Rural metro resources would be overwhelmed, they still couldn’t make the call to bring in outside ambulances. They had to contact 911 and let Rural Metro make the decision to allow it or not.

    Hopefully that issue got fixed or the citizens of Sioux Falls are really no better off than they were before.

    The biggest apparent difference so far is – with Rural Metro, they were using the fire department to subsidize/absorb their operating costs when overloaded. Paramedic Plus seems to be passing that on to the patient instead.

  4. The Daily Spin on May 26, 2015 at 3:06 pm said:

    There’s a case in federal court pertaining to the irregular city ambulance non-competitive bid contract. Having a standby is a good idea in case the present provider loses and goes bankrupt.

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