Taking too long to respond to Ariel Castro’s suicide was cause for statewide complaints about MedCare, an emergency medical service.
Athens County officials don't think the criticism is just, however, saying it’s not always possible to make “perfect” transport time.
If the grievance against the not-for-profit MedCare Ambulance, filed by the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction, proves to be true, MedCare’s contract for facilities across the state could be terminated.
That would affect the Hocking County unit of the state’s Southeastern Correctional Complex, said Karrie Hupka, its assistant warden. She said the facility has benefited from the MedCare contract since 2011.
The Columbus-based company’s contract says its ambulances are to respond to calls within 15 minutes, a task Athens-area EMS officials say can be daunting.
“They’re a blessing to the things we can’t do,” said Rick Callebs, chief of Athens County EMS. “With things like inner-facility transport, somebody that has to go from a hospital in Athens or a specialty facility, or within the nursing homes.
“Those places tend to be really high users of ambulance services just because of their elderly population.”
Ricky Seyfang, spokeswoman for the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction, confirmed that a complaint was filed against MedCare regarding slow EMS transport times, including the 28-minute transport to Ohio State University’s Wexner Medical Center when tending to Castro on the night of his death Sept. 3.
But Phil Koster, vice president of operations for MedCare, said the ambulance that took Castro only stopped for 30 seconds to pick up additional personnel — something he said is pretty standard procedure.
“Today, there was another ambulance company where their contract was called into question,” Koster said. “It’s fair to say that these particular cases have attracted a lot of attention.”
Hupka said she is unable to comment on the complaint at this time, adding that all the facts are not yet confirmed. She also said that contract requests were also sent to Hocking and Athens County EMS.
Callebs refused to bid for the Hocking Correctional Facility contract for various reasons, he said.
“No. 1, it’s in Hocking County. No. 2, I think that there’s no way that we could have met the expectations that they had,” Callebs said. “We’ve only got six trucks for all of Athens County.
“I’m not going to sign my name on a piece of paper agreeing to that.”
Callebs is quick to come to MedCare’s defense, saying that it follows statewide protocol to the best of its ability.
“I know they said they had to carry somebody down a set of steps in a blanket or a sheet, and that’s really not that uncommon,” Callebs said, referring to an August incident in Chillicothe. “We’ve done it a couple of times when no piece of equipment would fit.”
Koster said there is virtually no competition between private and county EMS services, adding that it’s not typically an issue for MedCare to respond to a call at the Hocking unit facility.
He said the high-profile nature of the death of Castro, the Cleveland man involved in the years-long kidnapping of three young women, contributed to the complaint being filed.
“The person involved has drawn a lot of attention, but we’re being diligent in reviewing our policies,” he said.
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