Rome Reporter

Atrium Health Floyd Emergency Medical Services ambulances are now responding in Chattooga County when residents call 911 for medical assistance.

Blake Elsberry, Chattooga County's sole commissioner, announced in May that Atrium Health Floyd would be taking over the service, which will initially provide five new, full-time ambulances and 35 teammates to respond across the county. The service represents more than a $1 million investment in new vehicles and equipment.

Atrium Health Floyd EMS provides ambulance service in Chattooga County and Floyd County, Georgia, and Cherokee County, Alabama. It also serves Polk County but is not a designated 911 provider there. EMS also provides non-emergency transportation in those counties as well as Bartow and Gordon counties.

Atrium Health Floyd EMS has been named the Georgia EMS Service of the Year three times and Region 1 Service of the Year five times.

“Not only is Atrium Health Floyd bringing to Chattooga County new equipment and a renewed focus to EMS, we will also soon break ground on a new freestanding emergency department (FSED) to provide around-the-clock emergency room services to Chattooga County," said Kurt Stuenkel, president and CEO of Atrium Health Floyd and executive vice president of Atrium Health. “With an emergency room right in Chattooga County I have no doubt that we will save lives because care will be more immediately available. These are exciting times in emergency care improvement for Chattooga County."

The FSED will be built in Chattooga County next to the Walmart on U.S. 27. That facility will include six examination rooms, two observation rooms, X-ray, ultrasound, computed tomography and laboratory services. The facility will be open 24 hours a day, seven days a week and will employ 44 new teammates. An EMS team will respond from that location.

When appropriate, Atrium Health Floyd EMS will take Chattooga County patients to the FSED. Also, Atrium Health Floyd Medical Center in Rome is home to the region's only state-designated Level II Trauma Center and Level III Neonatal Intensive Care Unit. In June, the hospital officially opened a helipad that will help trauma patients receive lifesaving treatment more quickly.

Atrium Health Floyd also provides on-site EMS for all home football games at Chattooga High School and Trion High School. These first-responder teams will also serve as support for Atrium Health Floyd's school-based certified athletic trainers. Ambulance coverage will be provided to other community sporting events throughout the year, if requested. Atrium Health Floyd's partnership with first responders in Chattooga County will provide training for rescue and lifesaving procedures.

“We look forward to working with those first responders," said Bud Owens, executive director of Atrium Health Floyd EMS. “We are committed to providing quality care throughout the county, and we will touch base periodically with county leaders to ensure we are doing just that."

Original source can be found here.