When thinking of essential services in Georgia, what’s the first thing that comes to mind? Is it police, fire and EMS?
Well, two out of three of those are deemed essential services in Georgia. EMS is not considered an essential service, and a bill in the 2024 legislative session to remedy that never made it out of the legislative session.
But some people want to change that. John Smith, COO/senior director of operations with Gold Cross, said they are asking to be named essential, which would allow ambulance services, both public and private, to become eligible for funds essential services receive.
“Like with Helene for instance, when the hurricane came through, we had overtime and we had extra expense, just like anybody else did, like fire and police,” Smith said. “So, they were able to get reimbursement for that because they’re an essential service. The best thing we can do is apply for a small business loan. It’s things like that. We’re talking about not just singling out different types of EMS. There are public, there’s private, there’s for profit, there’s not for profit. We’re just asking that all EMS be an essential service.”
Columbia County Fire Chief Jeremy Wallen added that EMS, both public and private, were critical during COVID, and he doesn’t mean the services that were running 911 calls or transferring people to hospitals.
“When you have COVID at a nursing home, that’s not a 911 situation,” Wallen said. “That’s when you depend on the Gold Crosses and the Capital Cities and all of those private providers who might not run 911 calls. You need them to move people …just a general transport type service. Well, all of those companies didn’t qualify for anything. So, while government was getting, and I mean nationwide, while government was getting reimbursed for overtime and money spent, capital purchases off the CARES Act and ARPA… and the only thing an EMS provider qualified for was a PPP payroll loan. That was it. So, the incurred extra fuel, the increased staffing and extra units that it took.”
Columbia County Deputy County Manager Glenn Kennedy said around 15 states and the District of Columbia recognize EMS as an essential service in some capacity.
“Public safety is a core function of the government,” Kennedy said. “Flat out, we are responsible for that. You picture public safety as a stool, three legs. You’ve got law enforcement, and we’re rock solid. You’ve got fire, and we’re rock solid. Then you have this other leg that’s a little short or not even there and that’s EMS. If you were to ask people what the emergency services are, they could probably go ambulance, fire, police.”
Kennedy added that EMS is very essential because when someone calls law enforcement, an ambulance will show up if needed.
“They expect it, and… in many, many cases that is hanging by a thread. And that has nothing to do if it’s private or government owned…it needs to start with being labeled as essential,” Kennedy said.
All three men reiterated that the goal right now is for EMS, both public and private, to be named an essential service.
“We have talked to our legislative delegation about it, and they have at least indicated their support to carry a bill or support a bill that would deem it as being an essential service,” Kennedy said.
The bill that stalled out last session can be found here.
