Is there a need for two ambulance providers in Vermilion Parish?

On Wednesday, the Vermilion Parish police jurors are expected to hear a presentation from Acadia Ambulance and Global Medical Response on whether there is a need for two ambulance services in the parish.
The two will speak at a “Need and Necessity” hearing at Wednesday’s 911 Committee Meeting in the Police Jury Meeting Room. It will begin at 5:30 p.m. The meeting room is located on the second floor the Vermilion Parish Courthouse.
The public is invited to attend the meeting.
A representative from Global Medical will tell the jurors why there is a need for another ambulance service. A representative from Acadian Ambulance will speak second and explain why there is no need for two ambulance services.
The members of the 911 committee will then vote to recommend or not recommend another ambulance service in the parish.
On Oct. 19, the police jury’s General Needs Committee voted to rescind Acadian Ambulance’s exclusive contract after Global Medical Response applied to provide ambulance service to the parish.
After that occurred, Police Jury attorney Paul Moresi III notified Acadian Ambulance that Global Medical Response applied to service Vermilion Parish.
According to the parish ordinance regarding ambulance service, “any existing ambulance service permit holder will be given notice of any application for a certificate of need and necessity and will have 30 working days from the date of notice to respond in writing to oppose, object to or request modification of the application and to state whether the application, if granted, would negatively affect the ability of any existing ambulance service permit holder to continue providing services.”
Global Medical Response is pushing to share Vermilion Parish with Acadian Ambulance. The two ambulance services are in Acadia Parish.
In the last six months, representatives from Global Medical Response have been attending council meetings in Vermilion Parish, letting the council and mayors know the company’s plans in the parish.
Global Medical Response employs 39,000 throughout the world. The company has 8,100 ground vehicles, 375 helicopters, 132 fixed-wing aircraft, and 158 fire vehicles.
On the other hand, Acadian Ambulance has been in the parish and south Louisiana since the 1970s and has 500 ambulances. Acadian Ambulance began its flight service in 1981.
Today, the ambulance service, housed in Lafayette, operates in Louisiana, Mississippi, Texas, and Tennessee.
Acadian Ambulance making presentations on why there should be only one ambulance provider is nothing new.
In 2021, Paul Fuselier, the Acadian Ambulance manager in Alexandria, presented to the Alexandria City Council, asking why the city council wanted to change Ambulance providers.
“What it felt like to me being here for 28 years was that the rug was being pulled out from under us, and we did nothing wrong,” said Paul Fuselier at the meeting two years ago. “I would completely understand if we were having complaints about response times and poor qualities of service, but here we are entertaining changing the process that has worked for over 28 years.”
However, he argued that adding EMS competition could hurt a patient’s outcome with different services fighting over which one will provide the care during a medical emergency.
“You’ll end up with something called rotating calls,” said Fuselier at the meeting in 2021. “Rotating calls doesn’t guarantee you the closest ambulance. Instead, it gets you the next one on the list.”