Dunwoody Crier — October 31, 2019

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ELECT

Dunwoody candidates talk schools, traffic

For A Better Dunwoody

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O c t o b e r 3 1 , 2 0 1 9 | T h e C r i e r. n e t | A n A p p e n M e d i a G r o u p P u b l i c a t i o n | S e r v i n g t h e c o m m u n i t y s i n c e 1 9 7 6

One year in, ambulance response times still slow By CARSON COOK carson@appenmediagroup.com DUNWOODY, Ga. — October marks the 12th month of DeKalb County being out of compliance with its agreement to provide ambulance services in Dunwoody, according to City Councilman Terry Nall. The Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with DeKalb County was approved by the Dunwoody City Council Nov. 5, 2018. It requires 90th percentile response times of 9 minutes or less for Advanced Life Support (ALS) and 15 minutes or less for Basic Life Support (BLS). According to data presented to the council from the DeKalb County Fire Chief, the only time frame the county met those times was December 2018 for ALS, at 8 minutes and 56 seconds. However, that same month the response time for BLS was more than 20 minutes. “It is acknowledged directly [by

DeKalb County] that the MOU is not just an understanding, but is a separate legally-binding agreement,” Nall said. “And yet today, the county remains noncompliant on response times and the GPS requirement.” The city declared DeKalb County in breach of the MOU on July 8. The county has attested that it is not violating the contract because overall emergency medical response, provided through ambulances and fire rescue, does comply with the standards in the MOU. At an Oct. 14 Dunwoody City Council meeting, Mayor Denis Shortal provided an update on his conversations with DeKalb County CEO Michael Thurmond. At the same time, Nall asked fellow council members to consider what they would be willing to do if the county continues to fail to comply.

See AMBULANCE, Page 10

Dunwoody’s memorandum of understanding with DeKalb County requires 90th percentile response times of 9 minutes or less for Advanced Life Support (ALS) and 15 minutes or less for Basic Life Support (BLS). As the chart shows, the county has failed to meet those times over the past year, according to data presented to the Dunwoody City Council.

November 2018 December 2018 January 2019 February 2019 March 2019 April 2019 May 2019 June 2019 July 2019 August 2019

Advanced Life Support 90th Percentile Response Time 11:25 8:56 12:16 12:44 12:11 13:21 13:21 13:00 11:10 13:45

Basic Life Support 90th Percentile Response Time 14:47 20:48 15:02 16:06 16:10 18:05 18:05 15:15 13:56 15:28

Appen celebrates best in business

Dr. David Palay and guests from Atlanta Ophthalmology Associates in Dunwoody hold the First Runner Up Award in the Ophthalmology Category at the 7th annual Best of North Atlanta Gala held Oct. 24 at Alpharetta’s Metropolitan Club.

Annual gala honors readers’ favorites

By PATRICK FOX pat@appenmediagroup.com ALPHARETTA, Ga. — There was dancing, dinner and air of celebration Oct. 24 as some 450 members of the business community gathered at Alpharetta’s Metropolitan Club for the seventh annual Best of North Atlanta Gala awards ceremony.

ABBY BYRD/SPECIAL

The event, hosted each year by Appen Media Group, recognizes the best businesses in North Atlanta as determined by readers. This year, more than 30,000 people cast ballots for their favorite business in any of 114 categories, from cosmetic surgery to auto service repair. “We hold this gala every year in an effort to recognize the best businesses our communities have to offer as decided by our readers,” said Appen Media Publisher Hans Appen. “And wow, our readers had a lot to say this year. We shattered

See BEST, Page 17

Happy Halloween!

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