Adams County Supervisors are considering a matter that could be the most important decision of their careers.

Someone’s life may literally hang in the balance of the supervisors’ upcoming decision on an exclusive arrangement with an ambulance provider for emergency response calls.

For years the county has operated on a seemingly fair system of rotation in which the two local ambulance companies are rotated evenly as emergency calls are received.

While fair to each company, the system is inefficient at times in getting the most capable hands to an emergency scene in the fastest time possible.

For years, residents and leaders have complained about delayed response times. These are particularly problematic when one provider gets the call but does not have an ambulance available or nearby and then must pass the call to the other provider.

Consolidating to a single provider has the potential to improve service, but only if the county insists on putting minimum average response times into any agreement the county provides. Such an agreement needs to be made with the advice of emergency medical professionals to ensure the county’s needs are fully covered.

In the end, moving to a single provider should be a good and necessary improvement to the county’s emergency response operations, but only if the county puts some teeth in the agreement.

County supervisors have the process moving in the right direction now and we hope they can finalize the plan soon.