September 18, 2014
The Franklin County Commission has entered into a contractual agreement with Shoals Ambulance to be the exclusive emergency and nonemergency ambulance service provider within the Alabama county with the exception of the Town of Phil Campbell, which will continue to be served by the Phil Campbell rescue squad.
“Consistent county-wide ambulance service is something we have needed for a long time,” Franklin County Commission Chairman Barry Moore said. “Our goal was to provide our citizens with the same quality of ambulance service throughout the county. We conducted a very thorough selection process, and we are pleased to confirm our partnership with Shoals Ambulance.”
The one-year contract with options for renewal specifies that Shoals Ambulance will place a minimum of two advanced life support ambulances 24 hours a day, seven days a week in Franklin County – one each at permanent stations in Russellville and Red Bay. Two additional ambulances will be placed in Red Bay and Russellville for 12 hours during peak time. Shoals ambulances will work closely with the emergency departments at local hospitals, as well as transport critical patients from Franklin County to hospitals in Florence, Huntsville and Birmingham.
“At Shoals Ambulance, our patients and the communities we serve are always our No. 1 priority,” said Blake Hargett, Shoals Ambulance operations supervisor. “We are thrilled to enter into this agreement with the Franklin County Commission to extend our high-quality service to the area. Shoals Ambulance looks forward to joining this great community.”
Shoals Ambulance will begin the process of transitioning into Franklin County immediately and will be fully operational within 30 days, in accordance with the contract.
The process to adopt a standard countywide set of EMS rules and procedures began last November when Russellville Mayor David Grissom formed an emergency medical services (EMS) committee to research other counties’ ambulance ordinances and to investigate options for Franklin County. The county previously was served by a different ambulance service for each of the communities of Red Bay, Russellville and Phil Campbell.
In June, Shoals Ambulance was selected as the provider in a competitive bid process. During the contracting process, it became clear some adjustments needed to be made to reconcile the county’s ambulance ordinance with the contract awarded to Shoals Ambulance. On Aug. 18, the Franklin County Commission adopted a revised ambulance ordinance and rebid the contract. On Sept. 15, the EMS Committee once again recommended Shoals Ambulance to provide service, and the recommendation was approved by Franklin County Commission.
Shoals Ambulance has provided excellent medical transport services to communities in the state of Alabama since 2012. Shoals Ambulance is the exclusive E-911 ambulance provider for Lauderdale County and the City of Florence in North Alabama. Shoals Ambulance provides nonemergency transport options to Muscle Shoals and Birmingham, specializing in the highest level of comfort and patient safety. Shoals Ambulance is a regional branch of Priority Ambulance.
Based in Knoxville, Tenn., Priority Ambulance provides the highest level of clinical excellence in emergency and nonemergency medical care. Throughout its national service area, more than 300 highly trained paramedics, EMTs and telecommunicators staff state-of-the-art ambulances with the latest medical equipment and technology.
In addition to the communities it serves in Alabama, Priority Ambulance provides emergency and nonemergency medical transport options to Knox and Blount counties and is the official emergency ambulance service provider in the cities of Loudon and Lenoir City in Loudon County in East Tennessee. Priority Ambulance also operates in Utica, N.Y., as Kunkel Ambulance.