As communities struggle with EMS system delivery due to the staffing and economic crisis, and some agencies making the difficult decision to curtail mutual aid responses, many areas are finding that an integrated 'regional' approach to service delivery across jurisdictional boundaries may be an effective solution.
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After Fayette County woman dies waiting 30 minutes for ambulance, local leaders make changes
By Erika Stanish
January 13, 2025
https://www.cbsnews.com/pittsburgh/news/henry-clay-township-ambulance-changes-woman-dies/
HENRY CLAY TOWNSHIP, Pa. (KDKA) — A family from Fayette County says they begged for help to save a dying loved one, that she took her final breath while they waited for an ambulance to arrive.
KDKA Investigates found that the family's call to 911 did not bring a response from the closest ambulance station, but instead from one more than 30 minutes away.
"I said to her, 'Please send me Confluence Ambulance, because my mom is still warm, like, please.' I was begging her, and she said no," said Elizabeth Metheney.
It was Dec. 21 when Metheney made a desperate call for help to 911 when her 73-year-old mother Kay wasn't breathing.
"I kept telling her, 'They're 3 miles from me, please,' and I couldn't get her to get me help," she said.
Living on Ramcat Road in Henry Clay Township, Fayette County, Metheney is 3 miles from the Somerset Ambulance station in Confluence and 15 miles from Fayette EMS in Farmington.
Despite having an ambulance station just minutes away, 31 minutes later, Fayette EMS arrived, but it was too late.
"I don't think people even realize you're not getting who you think you're getting when you call," she said.
Because of where they live and a boundary line in place, Fayette EMS is assigned to respond to the area where Metheney lives, even though the Confluence EMS station in Somerset is much closer.
"I don't want to see anybody's loved one suffer or have any problems whatsoever, but we definitely need to find out who's the one handling the lines," said Henry Clay Township supervisor Lawrence Hartman Jr.
Metheney says this isn't the first incident like this in the township and even started a petition last year to have the line changed and addressed it with Henry Clay Township supervisors in September of 2023.
"Who controls the line? We don't know," said Hartman.
Henry Clay Township supervisors told KDKA Investigates they're not responsible. However, Fayette EMS and 911 say they are. According to Pennsylvania statute, the township is responsible for ensuring that fire and emergency medical services are provided within the township. Fayette County 911 said each municipality then provides them with that information, and that's who they dispatch.
"I think that could be simple enough worked out, though, with the technology that we have. I mean, even if you called Somerset 911 and you called Fayette 911, let the two 911s correspond with each other of who's taking that call," said Henry Clay Township supervisor Jesse Bates.
KDKA-TV asked Fayette EMS if that's possible.
"We're on separate radios. We're not on the same, we're not on the same frequency. We don't know what's going on in Somerset County. They don't know what's going on in Fayette," said Fayette EMS Chief Rick Adubato.
The Fayette emergency services chief and assistant chief said they're willing to find a way to work with Somerset EMS to divide Henry Clay Township so they can work together to respond to calls in that area faster, but they said they refuse to commit to a dual response.
"Is a human life not worth the resources?" asked KDKA-TV's Erika Stanish.
"We're very sorry that the patient passed in this particular case. But unfortunately, you know, doing dual response on every call just takes resources away from the rest of our residents, both here in Fayette County and Somerset County," said Fayette County Assistant EMS Chief Matt McKnight.
Both Fayette and Somerset EMS say they think it's up to the township to determine who responds in an emergency.
"It's their responsibility, not ours," Fayette EMS Chief Adubato said. "We're not responsible for EMS or fire or that. The local municipality is responsible for that."
That's why the Metheneys were back in front of the supervisors and EMS during a township meeting last week, demanding change.
And change it did. Since KDKA-TV started working on this story, Fayette and Somerset EMS along with the township supervisors and both 911 agencies all sat down together to discuss how to move forward and provide better coverage for that section of Henry Clay Township.
They said they all agreed to move that lower section of the township to now be Somerset's coverage area. The township is set to make a resolution on that during their meeting next month. If a 911 call comes in and Somerset EMS is not available, Fayette EMS and Markleysburg's quick response team will respond instead.
"Never knew it was going to come down to the final straw for my mom for this to have to change. It has to change for everybody's well-being," Metheney said.
