Buckley area ambulance service remains uninterrupted
Published 1:37 pm Thursday, December 11, 2008
By Jessica Keller, The Courier-Herald
Despite changes to ambulance providers in the Tri-District area, ambulance services are not going to change in the east Pierce County Plateau area.
Questions were raised in Buckley about what would happen if fire districts 22, 12, and 20 - which have combined under the Tri-District umbrella - stopped using American Medial Response as their ambulance transport company in favor of providing their own transport services. Both Buckley Fire Chief Alan Predmore and Rod Chandler, the director of services for AMR in Pierce, Thurston and Lewis counties, say nothing will change.
Chandler said AMR, which also provides services to Carbonado, Greenwater and the Crystal Mountain area, has no intention of pulling their business from the region. Predmore also said Buckley will continue receiving ambulance transport service from AMR, so long as it remains.
AMR has been providing ambulance transport services to the Pierce County Plateau area for 19 years, and Chandler said he and his staff are committed to staying as long as Buckley will have them. He said the company might be forced to re-evaluate its position to continue services for Greenwater, Carbonado and Crystal if Buckley asked AMR to leave. But Chandler said Predmore is not the type of person to make a decision without taking others into account first.
Predmore said, after evaluating all the city's options, continuing service with AMR is still best for the city. He said while the situation will still be watched carefully, he has no reason to think anything will change.
"With the current administration at AMR, there is no reason to believe they won't provide the same level of service as they have in the past," Predmore said.
Chandler said every party involved can expect the same level of services as was provided before, and now that AMR will solely be providing services to the Buckley area, Buckley may benefit by having more immediate service.
He said while AMR provided fast service to Buckley and the others even while transporting patients in the Tri-District area, all of AMR's attention will now be centered on the Buckley area. While AMR will move resources to wherever they are needed, Buckley, Carbonado and the rest of the area will still receive the same prompt service.
Chandler said he does not have any hard feelings about the Tri-District pulling their services from AMR, and he wishes them luck with their new transport system. He also said while he looks forward to moving to Buckley, AMR will also continue to provide some service to the Tri-District, if asked.
Chandler said the decision to stay on the Plateau was a conscious decision, one he was glad he could make. Chandler said the decision was not difficult, even though he doesn't anticipate AMR making money for providing services to the area now that its biggest customers have left.
"That wasn't the issue; the issue was it's the right thing to do," Chandler said.
He said a lot of his crew live in the various Plateau communities, and when they heard AMR was going to leave the Tri-District area, they were disappointed.
So to remain in the Buckley area is exciting to everybody involved, Chandler said.
"For me it's a win-win situation because I get to take care of the community and take care of my people at the same time," he said.
The only question now, is where AMR ambulances will be stationed. AMR currently rents a space from one of the District 12 stations, but Chandler said he was informed AMR can expect to receive notice to leave within the next 30 days. As soon as he learned that, Chandler said, he began looking for a new space to be stationed.
He said with any luck the new building will be a commercial property, preferably in the Buckley area.
"We'd like to be as unobtrusive as possible," he said.
Chandler said AMR is not looking for free rent, and is expecting an increase in rent fees over what AMR paid to District 12. Finding new property and negotiating a lease could take a bit of time, Chandler admits, but he said Predmore has enlisted his help in the search.
And while it would not be ideal due to the limited space, Buckley has offered to allow AMR to temporarily station itself at the Buckley Fire Department.
Jessica Keller can be reached at jkeller@cmg-northwest2.go-vip.net/courierherald
