NATCHEZ — Adams County supervisors will evaluate three submitted proposals Wednesday as they decide if the county would benefit from a single emergency ambulance provider.

The county received proposals from three ambulance service providers Monday. The proposals came from American Medical Response, Rural Rapid Response and Metro Miss-Lou.

Discussions about switching to a single ambulance provider most recently began in October, when supervisors were alerted to a resident having to wait 45 minutes for an ambulance to arrive.

County officials have said Adams County is the only county in Mississippi without single-provider ambulance service.

Board President Mike Lazarus said Monday after the meeting, the idea behind asking for proposals — which the county is not legally obligated to do — is to give ambulance companies a fair shot at being the county’s provider.

Board Attorney Scott Slover said the county could legally contract with any ambulance provider it chooses without taking proposals or bids.

The proposals do not have a dollar amount valued on them, but outline how many ambulances the companies will have on standby, the level paramedic certifications, response times and other aspects of service.

Ambulance company owners have voiced concerns about going out of business and employees losing jobs if only one ambulance service could do business with the county.

Lazarus said his primary concern is not about threats of job losses because the ambulance service that comes out on top could hire those who may lose their jobs.

“Right now, they’re all fighting for the same dollars, like the hospitals were competing for the same patients,” he said. “There’s still going to be the same amount of people to treat, so it will probably still take the same amount of people to do the work.”

Although the board has not decided in which direction it will go, Supervisor David Carter said after the meeting he strongly supports moving to single-provider ambulance service.

“We’re probably the only county in the state … that handles 911 calls in a rotating fashion,” he said. “We have zero requirements for response time and zero accountability. Ultimately, by doing that, we provide a low-quality service. By going to one provider, we are trying to develop a program that we can enforce response times, hold companies accountable and provide quality service.”

Carter said the supervisors will likely not take action at the 11 a.m. meeting Wednesday and may meet with an expert in the field at a later date.

Wednesday’s meeting is set for 11 a.m. at the supervisors’ office building on State Street.