August 30, 2022 – The transition from Decatur Ambulance Service (DAS) to Abbott EMS in Decatur and Macon County is well underway with no anticipated service interruptions.
The City of Decatur and its ambulance working group partners continue to meet to assist HSHS and Abbott EMS with anything necessary to aid the transition. Citizens likely won’t see Abbott EMSbranded ambulances right away, but lots of behind-the-scenes work continues to get Abbott fully online as soon as possible.
“It’s a complex process to fully integrate into a new community with this size of a service area,” said Abbott EMS Regional Director Brian Gerth. “We want to assure the community we are working diligently and will do our part to keep Decatur & Macon County covered from a 911 EMS standpoint.”
“We are doing everything we can to aid this transition to Abbott EMS,” said HSHS St. Mary’s CEO Theresa Rutherford. HSHS is the current operator of DAS. “Our expert colleagues continue to meet the prehospital needs of the communities we serve. With their help, we have every intention to keep the community covered while Abbott continues its conversion process.”
In addition to regulatory and legal procedures that take time, Abbott EMS continues working on its infrastructure needs. They are looking into many options for business locations. Abbott has met with DAS several times to determine the viability of purchasing DAS equipment and ambulances. Abbott maintains they will have 6 ALS (Advanced Life Support) rigs and 2 QRV (Quick Response Vehicles) available in their local fleet when they are operational.
As for staffing, there have been multiple productive meetings with DAS employees and Abbott anticipates many of them will go through their hiring process. Abbott officials say more than 50 applications have been submitted so far.
The City of Decatur and its partners are all committed to ensuring a smooth transition. We appreciate our citizens’ concerns and patience as this process continues.
