(A) Purpose. To establish a uniform policy for the transportation of the sick and injured.
(B) Policy.
(1) All sick or injured persons requesting transport shall be transported to a hospital without delay.
(2) Persons refusing or not requesting transport to a hospital shall sign the trip ticket in the space provided for refusal or an authorized person shall sign the refusal for them.
(3) County EMS will not be responsible for transporting any patient (county resident or non-county resident) to any facility that exceeds 50 miles outside the county.
(4) County EMS will be responsible for the transfer or transport of any patient (county resident or non-county resident) that is being treated by either of the county’s hospitals. This transfer must be to a receiving facility, not a residence. The transfer or transport may not exceed division (B)(3) above. Also, this policy is based solely on the premise that an ambulance is available for this transfer. If an ambulance is not available then the transferring facility must be responsible for securing another means of transport. County EMS will cooperate with the facility in attempting to locate the alternative transport unit.
(5) County EMS will transport a county resident to his or her residence from a hospital outside of the county providing that the patient’s needs are such that he or she may not be transported by other means and this transport does not exceed division (B)(3) above.
(6) A county resident receiving medical care in a local medical facility may be transported to his or her residence anywhere within the boundaries of the county provided that he or she may not be transported by any other means. A non-county resident receiving medical care in a local medical facility may be transported to his or her residence provided that the mileage outside of the county does not exceed 15 miles and he or she may not be transported by any other means.
(7) County EMS will not be responsible for the transfer of any patient (county resident or non-county resident) that is receiving medical care in a medical facility outside of the county to another medical facility or nursing home outside of the county. The only exceptions to this will be a transport of a county resident to Southeastern Rehabilitation Center in Fayetteville, North Carolina.
(Res. passed 1-3-1989)