Donna Echols lost her ex-husband after having to wait 90 minutes for an ambulance to come to her Jackson home. A new law that goes into effect July 1 could prevent something similar from happening to someone else.
The state Legislature passed House Bill 1644, which the governor signed into law in April. Now, contracts between a county or municipality and a private ambulance service must allow a mutual aid agreement to allow other ambulance services to respond to 911 calls when the main ambulance service can not.
Echols was a major advocate for the bill, sharing her story with media and legislators. “What I did is talk to legislators about what happened to us and told them that it didn’t need to happen to any other family in Mississippi,” she said.
Echols says this new law gives her a sense of relief. “It will be available to help other people in their time of need,” she said.
At the local level, there’s been some backlash against AMR, the company contracted to provide ambulance service in Hinds County. An investigation by WLBT found that AMR met its contractually obligated response times around half the time. Hinds County did not fine the company for this, although it could have.
In city council meetings last summer, city leaders from Biloxi, Jackson and Gulfport discussed creating their own citywide ambulance districts.
In the fall, Hinds County successfully sued to prevent Jackson from doing so. In an order, Hinds County Chancery Judge Dewayne Thomas said Jackson’s proposal violated AMR’s contract with the county, and that switching ambulance providers would harm many Jackson residents.
By contrast, Gulfport and Biloxi faced little to no resistance. Biloxi announced its decision in December, and the Gulfport City Council unanimously approved the switch in February. Both are now serviced by Pafford EMS.
Harrison County also ended its 50-year relationship with AMR and switched to Louisiana-based Acadian Ambulance Services.
AMR referred all comments to Mississippi Ambulance Alliance board president Julia Clarke.
Clarke said that the problems with AMR are part of larger, systemic issues with the state and national healthcare system. One of the biggest is the shortage of staff.
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ projections, there will be 194,500 openings for registered nurses and 20,700 for emergency medical technicians by 2030.
Last August the alliance’s board ran an op/ed in the Clarion Ledger arguing that ambulance response times were just one part of the larger problem.
“The ambulance you are waiting on is more likely than not already at an emergency room,
waiting to unload a patient at an understaffed hospital. That hospital can’t find enough nurses
to hire to care for those and other patients, meaning EMTs can’t transfer the patient in the
back of their ambulance,” the board wrote.
Jim Mabus, center, leaves behind four sons, including two with Donna Echols: Denver Mabus, left, and Jake Mabus Credit: Courtesy of Donna Echols
In April 2023, when Echols’ ex-husband, Jim Mabus, was experiencing a series of strokes, eight AMR ambulances and two sprint medics were already responding to other calls and the central Mississippi service area received six service requests, including one for a heart attack, an AMR spokesperson said at the time.
Julia Clarke said that the alliance worked with the bill’s author to make sure the wording didn’t accidentally complicate dispatch protocols. The alliance supported the bill, but Clarke pointed out that the staff and ambulance shortages would still impact response times.
“We always welcome any discussion centered on improving EMS, but we do not think it is fair to blame dedicated first responders for issues beyond their control,” she said.
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