Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: TUESDAY, July 13, 1993                   TAG: 9307130148
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: C-2   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: STEPHEN FOSTER STAFF WRITER
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

YOU CAN'T GET THERE THAT WAY

The system worked.

While it seems peculiar that an ambulance from two miles away would take a call already at the hospital, those involved said the logic lies in the basic makeup of the city's Emergency Medical Services system.

The EMS system includes three stations in the city - on Day, Birchwood and Melrose avenues - each with a predetermined response territory, EMS coordinator Wanda Reed said. Carilion-owned hospital ambulances aren't part of that system.

They are designated as non-emergency transport vehicles, used primarily for transferring patients between hospitals and to nursing homes, said Morris Reece, vice president of RMH. They're called in only when the normal EMS crews are tied up.

Hospital ambulance crews have scheduled transport times for patients, as opposed to the ready-to-go EMS crews, Reed said. Dispatchers have no way of immediately knowing if a hospital crew is available.

"We utilize Carilion if our units are all busy," Reed said. "Most of the time they are out on calls." For a dispatcher to call and check on the availability of the hospital crews would be impractical and time-consuming.

As it was, on Monday, someone called 911 from the construction site. The call came into the dispatch center at 3:05 p.m., said EMS Deputy Coordinator David Hoback. Three minutes later an ambulance arrived.

The worker, who fell about 20 feet and landed on his feet, was identified as Harold Driscoll, 19, of Roanoke. He was listed in stable condition Monday night, a spokeswoman said.