(a) The Fire/Rescue Division is authorized to operate an emergency ambulance and also a general ambulance service for the transportation of patients between Mercy Hospital, City of Tiffin and other points within and outside the City, as authorized by the City Administrator, Fire Chief or his designee. General ambulance service shall not be authorized if it would jeopardize the ability of the Tiffin Fire/Rescue Division to provide emergency protection to the City or Contracted areas.
(b) 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 service will be transported to the emergency room of Mercy Hospital, City of Tiffin, and no Fire/Rescue personnel shall have authority to transport any patient to any other emergency room facility unless:
(1) So authorized by the City Administrator, Fire Chief or his designee. These instructions may be verbal. If Fire Chief or his Designee are reliably on notice of an extreme emergency wherein service facilities at Mercy Hospital are known to be overcrowded, such personnel may when authorized, transport patients to the nearest hospital facility from the site of the injury.
(2) All individuals requesting the assistance of a Fire/Rescue Division ambulance or who become users of the services 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 Mercy Hospital, Tiffin, Ohio, unless such direction has been given by an attending medical physician upon examination of the patient at Tiffin Mercy Hospital. (Ord. 16-79. Passed 12-5-16.)