HARRODSBURG, Ky. (LEX 18) — Mercer County is taking action after concerns were raised about the privately-owned ambulance service that the county has contracted for services.
Former Mercer County EMS Paramedic Wesley Hill told LEX 18 that he was concerned by what he saw and experienced in his three weeks working for the company, which began in December.
“The best word to describe it would probably be complacency,” Hill said. “When somebody calls for an ambulance they expect one to show up.”
He recalled a day he was working when a call came in from a nursing home about a man who was vomiting and in need of medical help.
“The ambulance crew on shift that day was not made aware of that call being made to the station for an ambulance to respond for in excess of 40 minutes. Because of that, when the ambulance arrived on the scene, it turned into a cardiac arrest situation,” Hill said. “That’s probably the most concerning situation you can have.”
Hill raised concerns, first with management at Mercer County EMS, and after he put in his two weeks, he spoke to Judge-Executive Sarah Steele to let her know what was going on, he said. They would ultimately let him go before those two weeks were up.
At a fiscal court meeting this week, Steele addressed the complaints they have received.
“What is going on right now is not working,” Steele said. “We recognize we had a lapse in services for many days in December.”
The county is working to acquire a certificate of need, which would allow them to launch a county-owned ambulance service or contract through someone else, which she said is more likely.
“We have to have quality ambulance care in Mercer County,” Steele said
For now though, Mercer County EMS is still operating. When we stopped by their office, director Patrick Meko declined to comment.
The EMS service changed ownership at the end of last September.
The previous owners say they had few complaints in the more than 30 years they owned the business.
When we asked Hill if the man from the nursing home survived, he told us he could not answer due to an ongoing inspector general investigation. We’ve been unable to reach the inspector general for comment.
Hill feels that speaking up - and quitting his job - was the right choice.
“I think about it this way,” Hill said “If it were my family member or one of my loved ones who was calling for an ambulance, I expect one to show up in the next few minutes, not in the next hour or greater.”
