THE MAYOR OF ATLANTA, GEORGIA, AND THE FULTON COUNTY Commission are combining to eliminate funding for emergency ambulance services in the Metro-Atlanta area.

The City of Atlanta is facing a budget shortfall of $140 million and the mayor, Shirley Franklin, is attempting to rein it in by completely eliminating any funding for EMS services in her proposed budget.  The City Council is able to amend the budget by adding a suplement, but so far they are showing little or no inclination to do so.

Meanwhile in the surrounding area, the Fulton County Commission voted last November to eliminate a $10 million funding supplement for the emergency ambulance services in the county effective July 1.  Some of the small cities in the northern part of the county are developing funding sources to make up the slack, but many of the others are already short of funds and can only rely on billing the victims to pay for their treatment and transportation.

Currently, Fulton County relies on two private ambulance firms, Grady and Rural/Metro, for its emergency EMS coverage.  The county believes that it is only shifting the financial responsiblity for it onto the individual towns that are using it.

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution has the latest REPORT.

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