(a) There is hereby created an emergency ambulance service and general ambulance service system (EMS) within the Fire Department. The EMS system is authorized to provide emergency medical services to the residents of the City. The EMS services are placed under the supervision and control of the Director of Public Safety and Service and the Fire Chief of the City.
(b) The Safety Service Director shall be the executive head of the EMS and the chief administrative authority thereof. The Safety Service Director shall establish all rules and regulations for the operation of the EMS service.
(c) The Safety Service Director (or his/her designee) shall annually report to Council regarding the operation of the EMS.
(d) General Ambulance Service shall not be authorized if it would jeopardize the ability of the Fire Department to provide emergency ambulance service to the City or to any political subdivision that contracts to receive EMS service from the City.
(e) In the interest of maximum utilization of ambulance equipment and personnel it is the policy of the City that all patients requiring emergency medical attention who become users of the EMS service will be transported to an emergency facility within Mahoning County, unless authorized by the Medical Director of the EMS, or his/her designee, to transport a patient to a different emergency room facility in accordance with established policies and procedures. If the Safety Service Director or the Fire Chief, or their respective designee, are reliably on notice of an extreme emergency wherein service facilities at Saint Elizabeth Hospital are known to be overcrowded, EMS personnel may, when authorized, transport patients to the nearest hospital facility from the site of the injury.
(f) All individuals requesting the assistance of emergency ambulance service or who become users of the service upon the direction or authority of another person shall be notified upon request that the use of such service does not include the right to demand transport to a facility other than an emergency facility within Mahoning County, Ohio, unless such direction has been given by an attending medical physician upon examination of the patient at Saint Elizabeth Hospital.
(Ord. 22-051. Passed 9-14-22.)