Emergency services track ambulance delays

When freshman Billy Rohaly hit his head last month and experienced symptoms related to those of a concussion, emergency personnel were summoned to the scene.  
Witnesses said the paramedics took approximately 15 minutes to arrive and assess the situation.

“It was important to me that my injury was treated in a timely manner, and from what I was told after the situation, I was waiting a long time,” Rohaly said.

Kelly Mullis, director of emergency transport services at IU Health Bloomington, said there are several factors that can affect ambulance response times, including traffic and other circumstantial influences.

“I wasn’t in any position to gauge how quickly the emergency team responded to the scene, but I would hope that in similar situations, students would be subject to professional and responsible treatment,” Rohaly said, reflecting on last month’s incident. “In my opinion, an ambulance arriving at the scene as quickly as possible would be a good example of professional and responsible treatment.”

Indiana Public Media released a report in October stating that a dilapidated database system containing the names of all campus buildings and addresses may be a factor in delayed responses.

Mullis said the average arrival time for an ambulance unit is 7.19 minutes.

She also said the main contributing factor for the late arrival of an ambulance unit is the placement of the actual ambulances.

Personnel aim to respond to any medical emergency under the national average of eight minutes, Mullis said. 

“Ambulances are strategically based in this county. Sixty percent of runs are in the city,” Mullis said.

Mullis said state-of-the-art software installed in all ambulance vehicles allows headquarters to track all activity of the trucks. The driver activates the software by pushing a button when he or she enters the vehicle.

“All of our 911 calls come in. We have an internal policy that gives us a guideline for how long someone should be out of the station,” Mullis said.

All situations involving a late arrival to a scene are dealt with on a case-by-case basis.
“We’re always looking to do better and improve. Our goal is excellence,” Mullis said.