In an effort to resolve concerns about ambulance response time, a joint City of Charlottesville and Albemarle County committee recommended the creation of a new city ambulance service last week.
Committee members, selected by the Charlottesville City Council, investigated the emergency medical response system in the City of Charlottesville, proposal spokesperson Del. David Toscano, D-Charlotte1sville explained.
"The committee was appointed to reflect the diversity in the community, so you had people from the private sector, and a representative from the rescue squad, a representative from the city, from the county and the city fire divisions, and emergency 911," Toscano said. "You had a lot of expertise in the room coupled with citizen involvement."
The committee came to a consensus last week recommending that Charlottesville establish a new city ambulance system to run during the "peak operation hours" of 8 a.m. to 8 p.m., Toscano said. Currently, Charlottesville's ambulance needs are filled solely by the Charlottesville-Albemarle Rescue Squad.
"The way it works now is that ambulance service is provided by CARS, a volunteer organization," Toscano said. "Part of the problem is that volunteers are not always available during the day, with the result that sometimes the coverage for ambulance service is not as good as could be in the city."
CARS representatives were not available for comment.
The proposed ambulance service would be staffed by paid workers and would run out of one of the City's fire departments, Toscano said, noting that the cost of "capital and equipment" would amount to about $500,000.
Toscano said if the proposal -- which is awaiting review by City Council -- is approved, the service could be implemented soon.
"The Council set aside money in the budget cycle," he said. "It could happen as soon as the Council wanted it to happen and as soon as [the Council bought and hired] the ambulances and staff."
Numerous students use CARS ambulance services for a number of various health-related reasons, according to Student Health Executive Director James C. Turner.
"It's an important service, and students really do benefit from it," Turner said. "We couldn't provide emergency service to our students without it"
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