NATCHEZ — Though the county signed a contract with a single ambulance provider for 911 calls in the county more than one month ago, questions of the legality and practicality of the move rose again in the supervisors’ meeting Monday.

Metro Miss-Lou Ambulance Service operations manager Jim Graves stood before the Adams County Supervisors Monday and asked a question.

Why, Graves asked, is Metro still responding to emergency 911 calls if a contract has been agreed upon with American Medical Response to handle all 911 emergency calls in the county?

The supervisors in January advertised a request for proposals for a single emergency ambulance service.

The single emergency service would replace a rotating call system that alternated emergency 911 calls between the AMR and Metro.

The original RFP set start date for Feb. 21, though supervisors only chose a provider on Feb. 28.

“It’s now been two months since the selection of AMR and the start date of the contract and Metro is still providing ambulance response to 911 calls because AMR is unable to do it alone,” Graves said.

Graves said the ordinance to create a single emergency response service “eliminates patient choice” and gives one ambulance service a “monopoly” in the county.

“Metro believes this ordinance … is not only illegal but improperly limits patient choice,” Graves said.

After the meeting, Board Attorney Scott Slover said he requested an opinion from Attorney General Jim Hood n 2016 on the legality of selecting one E911 service provider.

The opinion, Slover said, allowed the county to defer all emergency 911 calls to a single provider as long as the supervisors do not prohibit other ambulance services from operating in the county.

“The county has taken the position of the attorney general,” Slover said. “If someone wanted to call Metro instead of calling 911, they could do so.”

Supervisor David Carter said though Graves was correct that the original start date was set for Feb. 21, that day was pushed back to May 1 as supervisors negotiated a contract with AMR.

“I see what you’re saying,” Carter said. “But, of course, it hasn’t started yet.”

Graves, his voice rising as he leaned closer to the microphone, asked, “When this contract does go into effect, what do you expect from Metro when AMR can’t make a call?”

Carter said he hoped that when the contract does go into effect, AMR would be able to answer the calls.

“Well, you know what happens when you assume,” Graves said. “I hope you’re right.”

Carter said the contract was set up as a six-month trial period so supervisors could see whether a single-service response would work in Adams County.

“Who suffers in that six-month period?” Graves said. “By doing this you’re going from seven (ambulances) that can answer the call to three. We have four (ambulances), and they have three.”

Slover said the contract aims to make the ambulance service accountable to its response times.

“Right now,” he said, “there is no accountability.”

Carter agreed, saying of the 82 counties in Mississippi, Adams County has one of the slowest response times.

“If there’s 82 counties and there’s a handful that don’t have single-ambulance service and they also have the slowest times, we need to change something,” Carter said.

Graves repeated one question throughout the exchange: If a caller requests Metro, would the dispatcher consent to calling his responders?

Ultimately, if the situation was an emergency, no, Adams County Emergency Management Director Robert Bradford said.

“If they dial 911 and say, ‘I want Metro,’ we can’t do that,” Bradford said. “If it’s not an emergency, I can dial your number.”

“The answer is no?” Graves said. “That’s all we needed to know.”

Graves and the two Metro employee with him then turned and walked out of the room without another word.

AMR spokesman Tim Houghton rose after Graves made his exit and approached the microphone.

“Y’all want a statement on that?” Houghton said before continuing. “We’re going to prioritize 911. We’re talking about ambulances committed to the 911 system. What you’re trying to create is something that has not previously existed in this county — that is accountability.”

Houghton said as of yet, the contract has not been finalized and the single-service yet, but that his responders were ready for the challenge.

“We look forward to, anticipate and plan for May 1,” he said.  “Then it won’t be a matter of hypotheticals; it will be stand and deliver. We are prepared for it. We have the equipment; we have the personnel; we are ready.”