One ambulance service covers all five North Fulton cities. And on Thursday, a regional group came together for the first time – at Milton’s City Hall – to ensure the quality of that service.

 

The new Emergency Medical Response Oversight Committee (EMROC) convened on the second floor of City Hall featuring representatives from the fire departments – as well as the city managers/administrators – of Alpharetta, Johns Creek, Roswell, Sandy Springs, and, of course, Milton. Per state law, all five communities are required to get ambulance service through a designated provider; in this case, that provider is American Medical Response (or AMR).

 

Milton and our sister cities collaborate regularly with AMR, which has equipment, capabilities, and responsibilities – chief among transport to area hospitals – beyond what is the norm for firefighters. Still, data-driven accountability is core to how Milton does business (as it is, apparently, to our neighbors). And such an approach is particularly critical when considering the importance of ambulances to our citizens’ health and well-being.

 

Last summer, a new agreement was approved with AMR that built-in accountability standards such as minimum response times and minimum staffing requirements for all ambulances operating in North Fulton County. The Emergency Medical Response Oversight Committee takes that further as a structure to assess whether contract terms are being met, then take action if they are not.

 

And we in Milton were honored to host this group’s first meeting on Thursday. While it was a fairly general introductory meeting, this representative group should dive deeper in the coming months.