At the request of Councilman Bruce Jenkins, Mayor Pro-Tem Cris Eaton-Welsh chaired a discussion about a letter Kennedy received July 2 from the Georgia Department of Public Health informing the city that it was not complying to the state law and had until Aug. 1 to begin using its authorized EMS Region III provider, MetroAtlanta.
Georgia EMS has been responding to calls within the city limits for the last 14 years.
During the conversation, Mayor Mark Mathews, who is employed by MetroAtlanta, sat in the audience recusing himself. Kennedy was out of town and not present at the meeting.
Eaton-Welsh said she wanted the council members to talk about the issue “freely and openly” in public so that they could voice any concerns, solutions or opinions regarding the situation, adding at the end that she was “appalled and frustrated” with Kennedy’s decision to call Georgia EMS before talking about the letter with the council as a whole.
Councilman Jeff Duckett said it was the city’s obligation to follow the state mandate.
“We’ve been operating under false pretenses for all these years,” he said. “It may not give viability to what City Manager Kennedy did but … I happen to agree with his decision. We are a government body and if we aren’t abiding by the law, we are setting a bad example for the city.”
His fellow councilman Tim Killingsworth, spoke passionately about his love and admiration for the owner of Georgia EMS, Ron Kadner, but asked why he wasn’t there so that he could tell it to his face.
A representative from the company, Amir Adiri, said that he was the spokesperson for the ambulance service.
Like Killingsworth, Councilman Bill Thrash spoke about why he appreciated Georgia EMS’ service but like Duckett said that the state is who tells them whom to choose as an ambulance service and they must follow the law.
Jenkins spoke last, asking MetroAtlanta President Pete Quinones’ several questions about response times and services. He also asked the city’s 911 director Bobbie Duke to see if it were possible to coordinate her system with MetroAtlanta’s and to get costs back to them before their next meeting on July 16.
Additionally, like his counterparts on the council, Jenkins said that he believed Kennedy “jumped the gun” on telling Georgia EMS that they can no longer respond to 911 calls in the city.
“We should have discussed it in public,” he said. “It should have been handled a lot differently.”
The discussion took place during their regular work session and no action was taken on the topic.
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City Manager was given a contract, which is a first and why? Cause, they can use him as a fall guy down the road, cause he is still going to get paid.
Why? Do you think all these lawsuits have hit with the current Mayor/Council? Are they dirty? Are they trying to hide things? Time for you as a citizen to decide. I just wish I could understand more, but just as crazy as you know what....
I've answered calls with both ambulance services and they are so different as night is to day. Georgia EMS will respond, access the situation and inform the patient along with the family of everything that they are doing and why. Metro responds tells the patient they need to be transported even if they don't, never explains to the family what they are doing or why...I've even seen metro argue with a patient about refusing transport. If anything ever happened to me while protecting the community I only want Georgia EMS to care for me, I know they will take care of me the best they can. If metro responds I would rather die, probably would while waiting or by not getting the quality care I deserve for putting my life on the line for a complete stranger.
Angels from HEAVEN! Three years ago my wife was diagnosed with inoperable cancer. Over these past there years we've been faced with many horrible challenges which have required emergency transport to the hospital. The first time we ever had to use an ambulance was truly a nightmare.My wife and I were out shopping when she suddenly became short of breath. This continued until she collapsed completely unable to breath. 911 was called and shortly after a Cobb County Fire engine showed up and began to force her to breath with a tube. 20 minutes later,and only after the firefighter called his dispatch requesting an ETA on the ambulance twice, did a METRO Atlanta Ambulance finally arrive. While we were waiting I heard the fire fighters saying that this happens all the time with METRO. Anyway, once they did finally arrive, the crew was in no hurry or showed any urgency in helping us. The first thing they asked me when I told them she had cancer was if she was a DNR( do not resuscitate) I told them no and the immediately acted put out. When we finally managed to get to the hospital the nurse told apologized for the METRO ambulance crew, but as they were leaving the nurse asked if they had been busy that day,and their reply was " Busy Toting GIMPs) I was horrified because that "GIMP" was the most precious thing in my whole world, and I was watching her slowly and painfully die. Anyway, my wife recovered only to have the same thing happen again a week later at our life long home in Kennesaw,Ga. Again 911 was called, except from the very start things were different within 2 minutes an ambulance was at my door. A very professional but polite young man ran in a stated that he was a paramedic with GEORGIA EMS ambulance, and everything was going to be ok. He asked me several times what had happened,and what my wife's medical history was. I was shaking and crying uncontrollably because I had been trying do rescue breathing on my wife so I know he could barely understand me. He and his partner began rescue breathing until the fire dept. Arrived. At that point the paramedic from Georgia EMS and the fire fighter put a tube in my wife's throat and started IVs. While they were doing this, the paramedics partner stood with me explaining everything they were doing. He helped me gather my things and calmed me down. He helped me into the ambulance and continued to explain everything that was going on during our ride to the Emergency Room. The Georgia EMS ambulance crew did everything they could to make both my wife and I as comfortable as possible. They treated me, but most importantly my wife with nothing but respect. They helped us through a moment in our lives, that I wouldn't wish on anyone. Since that day crews from Georgia EMS ambulance routinely stop by my house just to check on my wife. They have offered many times to come by and help should I ever need help lifting my wife or moving her. They told me because of her cancer she would suffer ever remaining day with pain, but whenever it was too much to just call them and we together would move her so as to help her to be as comfortable as she could be. Anyway, When I was doing rescue breathing on the only thing that makes my life worth living, I prayed for a miracle, and God answered my prayers when he sent GEORGIA EMS ambulance that night. Thank you Georgia EMS ambulance, I pray that god protects your crews as they attempt to do their hard job.
Kennesaw will again and again awaken in the mornings feeling like we have just gotten run over
by a sixteen wheel truck.