Ambulance Service Touts Fewer Errors, Faster Response Thanks To GPS

Written by The Macon Telegraph


Georgia - Public safety agencies have tinkered with the use of Global Positioning Systems in small areas recently, but a local ambulance service is pioneering its use over a broad part of Middle Georgia, including rural areas.
Mid-Georgia Ambulance owner Ben Hinson said placing GPS systems in his 35 ambulances brings emergency care to patients faster. For instance, it's easy for callers to say First Street when they mean First Avenue, but GPS software has the ability to pinpoint callers' locations as they dial 911.

"It reduces the possibility for human error," Hinson said, adding that once crews have the correct address, a computerized map shows them exactly where to go.

When a 911 call is received at Mid-Georgia's dispatching center in Macon, a mapping program automatically shows dispatchers where the caller is located and maps the location of all available ambulances on a computer screen, said communications manager Belinda Somers.

All the dispatcher has to do to send an ambulance is use a computer mouse to drag the pinpointed emergency call on the screen to the nearest ambulance, Somers said.

"He never has to say a word," she said.

Mid-Georgia Ambulance has 911 emergency response coverage for 40 percent of Bibb County and all of Cook and Chattahoochee counties. It also provides emergency medical services in other counties in west, south and Middle Georgia.

No matter where the ambulances are responding, whether they're in Bibb or in Chattahoochee, dispatchers are able to see on a computer monitor both where the ambulances are and where they're going.

"You can sit here and watch the ambulances driving around," Somers said.

Inside Mid-Georgia's 35 ambulances, crews also are able to see both where they are and where they're going on a small LCD unit mounted just above the rearview mirror.

Shift supervisor Danny Edwards said all it takes is the touch of a pen, like one used on a personal digital assistant, to tell dispatchers an ambulance is on its way to an emergency. When the ambulance arrives, another touch of the pen tells dispatchers they've arrived.

The same pen touches tell dispatchers which hospital an injured person is being taken to, when they get there and when the ambulance is available for another call.

"It makes it a whole lot easier," Edwards said. "You don't have any error trying to understand the dispatchers."

Somers said there are days when crews come to work and never talk to dispatchers on the radio.

"And they love it," she said.

Groundwork and planning to implement GPS technology has been in place at Mid-Georgia for a long time.

"I have wanted this technology for at least a decade," Hinson said.

When GPS units became available in cars, Hinson said, he and several of his supervisors began testing the units in their own vehicles for accuracy.

In October, Mid-Georgia's ambulances were outfitted and crews started using them instead of conventional paper maps.

With the advantages of having mapping technology in the emergency field, it's no wonder other agencies have taken interest in outfitting their vehicles. However, it's cost prohibitive for many.

Hinson said the computer technology behind the mapping program costs between $250,000 and $350,000.

"The software is the same cost if you have one ambulance or 35 ambulances," he said. "Being able to spread the cost over 35 ambulances makes it work."

Hinson said the entire cost of the program is being paid from the ambulance company's profits without raising rates.

Ambulance services are tasked with being fiscally responsible, he said, but it's hard to put a price tag on how much a life is worth, he said.

"This technology is very costly, but if it gets us to one house or one scene in time to save a life, it's worth it all."