Knox County’s ambulance provider was fined almost $500,000 for failing to respond to emergency calls fast enough in May. AMR improved its overall response times, but still missed its goal on 23% of calls and turned in worse response times on serious calls within the city in May compared to April.
Under the new contract that went into effect Feb. 1, AMR is fined when it does not achieve a 90% response rate on the most serious calls within a specific time that varies according to the location. Response times for priority 1 calls must be faster in the city of Knoxville (10 minutes) than in the county outside city limits (20 minutes). AMR also is fined for delayed responses to less serious calls.
Response times were the worst within Knoxville city limits. In the city, crews took longer than 10 minutes to arrive for the most serious calls 31% of the time. Those fines added up to up almost $245,000.
In the eastern part of the county, AMR accrued $82,000 in penalties. Crews took longer than 20 minutes to arrive for the most serious calls 13% of the time.