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August 18, 2022 | AppenMedia.com | An Appen Media Group Publication | Ser ving the community since 1976
City probes ambulance service By ALEXANDER POPP alex@appenmedia.com DUNWOODY, Ga. — A rise in ambulance response times was a key focus at the Aug. 8 Dunwoody City Council meeting. DeKalb County Fire and Rescue presented council members with an extensive list of statistics, updates and challenges as part of the county’s service delivery strategy report to the city. The issue of ambulance response times was highlighted during the public comment period even before the presentation began. Dunwoody resident Malcom Elavia shared a harrowing experience his family had in June when he called 911 after one of his daughters began having trouble breathing. “It was a very frightening thing to see,” he said. “I’ve volunteered in the ER for three years. I’ve seen some pretty wild things, but when it’s yours in your hands and you’re helpless it’s a whole different story.” Elavia said it took almost 15 minutes for a fire engine to get to his house, which is just a few minutes away from Downtown Dunwoody. During that time, his daughter stopped breathing several times, he said, but fire rescue personnel were unable to transport her to a hospital. “It took a total of 29 minutes for an ambulance to get to my house,” he said. The child survived and was able to get to a hospital, but Elavia said that under different circumstances the situation could have been fatal. “That is a long time,” he said. “My
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Dunwoody has reportedly seen a decline in ambulance service response times since operations were privatized in 2020. daughter, had she completely stopped breathing, would have had brain damage within four to six minutes,” he said. “I think we got lucky. And I think this is an opportunity to show weaknesses in our system.” Dunwoody Mayor Lynn Deutsch said later in the meeting that the city is aware of the poor ambulance response times. The city has reportedly seen a decline in the service since ambulance operations were privatized in 2020, when the city and county awarded an ambulance
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service contract to American Medical Response (AMR). “We had seen a nice improvement up until 2020,” she said. “Then the pandemic happened, and so now, we find ourselves worse than we were in a lot of ways.” Speaking to the City Council, DeKalb County Fire Chief Darnell Fullum reported that the struggle to find ambulance staff and respond to emergencies is
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Area animal shelter opens adoption drive ATLANTA — As metro Atlanta animal shelters continue to take in high numbers of pets daily, LifeLine Animal Project is offering low-cost adoptions in an effort to find homes for 500 mostly medium and large-sized dogs and 50 cats by Aug. 31. Fulton County Animal Services, managed by LifeLine, reported early this month it has 376 dogs in a shelter built in 1978 to house roughly 80 animals. Seasonal increases in animal intake, coupled with a staggering decrease in animal adoptions, have spurred unprecedented overcrowding. Some of LifeLine’s larger, older dogs have been housed in the shelters for years. In honor of LifeLine’s 20th anniversary, families can adopt a new pet for $20 at all LifeLine shelters through August. The price includes all vaccination, spay/neuter and microchip fees valued at $250. LifeLine will also be giving away $20 PetSmart gift cards, gift bags and other promotional items during the month-long campaign. To view animals available for adoption and for directions to the shelter and shelter hours, please visit LifeLineAnimal.org.