Ambulance & Chair changes ownership amid pandemic
Katie Anderson/Observer-Reporter
Dante Sicchitano, an Advanced Emergency Medical Technician with Ambulance & Chair, teaches how to dress a wound during an evening training at the Bentleyville Volunteer Fire Department.
Katie Anderson/Observer-Reporter
Larry Pollock, executive director of Ambulance & Chair Service, in a file photo from November
Katie Anderson/Observer-Reporter
On the stretcher, Mike Wystepek, a supervisor with Ambulance & Chair, teaches how the agency’s new equipment works to a group of first responders at the Bentleyville Volunteer Fire Department.
Katie Anderson/Observer-Reporter
Mike Wystepek, a supervisor with Ambulance & Chair, teaches how the agency’s new equipment works to a group of first responders at the Bentleyville Volunteer Fire Department.
Ambulance & Chair Service has adapted to many changes this year, a global pandemic being one of them.
The EMS agency had also been in the process of changing ownership before the COVID-19 pandemic began to shut down much of the nation in March.
Larry Pollock, who became the ambulance service’s executive director in April, said it has been a “real trying time.”
“At that point, we were trying to prepare for an influx of patients and do a lot of training,” he said, about preparing for COVID-19 in the spring. “There was no rule book or textbook to kind of tell how this was ever done before in EMS.”
The previously for-profit EMS agency had been privately owned by Billie Morris, who retired earlier this year, for more than 50 years. Pollock said he had worked for Morris since 2012.
“She felt that now is the time for her to retire,” Pollock said. “Certainly her passion for good quality care in Washington County is something that we look forward to emulating, as well as to grow and to continue to make the organization the best we can.”
When Morris retired, Ambulance & Chair was converted to a 501c3 nonprofit organization. Washington Health Systems and UPMC have some connection with the agency, but Pollock said Ambulance & Chair is “a totally separate entity and independently-run system.”
“We have an independent board of directors that make the decisions,” Pollock said.
He said UPMC has “provided medical direction, crew training and clinical oversight of Ambulance & Chair since 2012,” and they will continue that partnership.
The ambulance service covers 33 municipalities in Washington County, reaching about 90,000 residents, Pollock said. The service provides coverage from the West Virginia state line into the Monongahela Valley, and from the northwest corner of the county to the Greene County line.
“We’re the largest ambulance provider in the county,” Pollock said.
During COVID-19, the agency stayed pretty busy with calls and extensive training related to COVID-19. It added cleaning procedures and closely follow protocols from the state Department of Health.
“We are ready for COVID,” Pollock said.
Since the pandemic began, he said the agency had patients that should have gone to the hospital refuse treatment, out of fear of contracting the virus.
Pollock reassured residents their ambulance service is safe.
“People shouldn’t hesitate to call 911 or seek emergency help,” he said. “We never want to see someone not go to the hospital if they need emergency care.”
In the first six months since it became its own entity, Ambulance & Chair upgraded three new ambulances and patient care equipment. He said management is still evaluating the company “top to bottom,” to see if any changes in protocol or equipment may be beneficial for patients.
“As a paramedic and being in emergency services for 21 years, to me the patient is the most important,” Pollock said. “We want to really do this patient-centered approach to care.”
Ambulance & Chair also held six training events across the county, which included any agencies it often works alongside, like fire and police department.
“EMS is a system approach,” Pollock said. “We couldn’t provide great care without great care from our firefighters, both volunteer and career; the police, who are often trained in EMS; and our area emergency departments.”
During the training events, Ambulance & Chair employees show participating agencies how to use their new equipment and where things like gloves and masks are located on its trucks.
“We’re also teaching them about certain medications and procedures that a fire department can do if they were to arrive before EMS,” Pollock said. “What we’re looking to do, is create this system of care, where all three EMS entities work together to provide the patient the best care.”