NATCHEZ — When the question was put to them Wednesday, two of the three ambulance services operating in Adams County said having multiple providers in the county negatively impacts service.

Representatives from Metro Miss-Lou Ambulance Services, American Medical Response and Rural Rapid Response met with three members of the Adams County Board of Supervisors — David Carter, Rickey Gray and Mike Lazarus — Wednesday to discuss ambulance service in the county.

Two Natchez city aldermen — Dan Dillard and Sarah Smith — were also present, as were representatives of the local health care industry.

The county board has in recent months discussed adopting an ordinance to regulate ambulance service in the county, Adams County being the sole Mississippi county that does not have an exclusive Emergency 911 response ambulance service.

The discussions started last fall after supervisors heard several complaints about ambulance response times.

The three ambulance services — all of which have a presence in the county, though Rural Rapid Response does not respond to 911 calls — have responded to the board’s request for proposals to show why they would be the best provider for 911 service.

While the discussions Wednesday included what kind of equipment and training the ambulance services could provide and how they can track their calls to ensure services are effective and efficient, the supervisors also pointedly asked the providers if they thought a single-provider plan was a good idea.

Tim Houghton with AMR said having multiple providers is what ultimately started the discussions. AMR and Metro respond to 911 calls on a rotating basis.

“We are here today because there are gaps in rotating calls between one provider and the other,” Houghton said. “I may not literally have an ambulance sitting next to a call, but the other guy may, but because I am on that rotation, I get that call, and I have no obligation to call that other guy.”

With a single service, providers will know where all ambulances are and be able to respond accordingly, he said.

Tyler Blalock with Rural Rapid Response said the current arrangement is “absolutely harmful” to the county, but that if the board granted his company the access to 911 response — which isn’t a money maker — he’d be able to earn the more lucrative patient transfer business between health care and living institutions.

“I think if I am a good enough provider to get the 911 provider status, I am going to get the non-emergency business.”

Blalock said he would ask the county for a $50,000 subsidy, but that would be to have a dispatcher placed at a unified county 911-dispatch service so no need for middle-man dispatcher at the ambulance service would exist.

Adams County Emergency Management Director Robert Bradford said the plan for a unified dispatch system for all 911, law enforcement and fire calls is on track to launch between October and December.

Jim Graves with Metro said he believes the county needs an ordinance, but “you don’t need to ordinance anybody out.”

“There ought to be some kind of (tracking) technology out there where the dispatcher can look and see that if it’s red, that ambulance is on a call, but if it’s green, he’s good to go,” he said.

If the county decides to limit ambulance service to one provider, “Some folks are going to lose their jobs,” Graves said.

“We are going to use who we can, but we can’t use them all. It is going to be a tough decision.”

The supervisors said Wednesday they don’t plan to make a decision soon, and more discussions will follow.