County Ambulance Law Draws Criticism

The proposed ambulance ordinance for Washtenaw County drew criticism as being "unwise and in our opinión illegal" from a representative of two ambulance operators at a public hearing yesterday before the Board of Supervisors. Ann Arbor attorney Ralph C. Keyes, representing the Staffan Funeral Home in Ann Arbor and the Moore Funeral Home in Ypsilanti, said his clients did not oppose the ordinance in principal, just some provisions of it. Keyes also said parts of the ordinances "go beyond good sense and common reason" and indicated his clients might test the legality of the ordinance in court if it is okayed. Keyes also said passage of the ordinance might force his clients out of the ambulance business because many of the regulations governing standards for ambulances would cost them too much monev. The main objection Keyes cited was the ordinance gave to much authority to the licensing and health officers for the county. He especially mentioned one provisión of the ordinance which says, "The Health officer is authorized and directed to promúlgate and adminístrate regulations to implement the standards provided herein as to required design and equipment of ambulances." According to Keyes, this provisión would give the officer a "blank check" in placing regulations on each ambulance. "And with each new health officer, we could have a different set of specifications," Keyes said. He said all matters such as required equipment should be spelled out in the ordinance. Aeyes also objected to the provisión that would require each ambulance to be able to contain four cots. He said in the past six years Staffan and Moore combined have answered 17,479 calis and only eight-tenths of one per cent of these have required more than two cots. The additional cost for equipping the ambulances to carry four cots would make the difference between a vehicle costing $8,000 and $18,000 he said. Keyes added that such an occurrence could put Staffan and Moore out of business "and that is not in the interest of public safety." In answering Keyes' charges, Dr. Charles Frey, chairman of the Washtenaw County Highway Safety Council, said the additional equipment was a necessity. He said his group has studied 159 traffic deaths in the county over the past six years, and 18 per cent of these persons could have been saved. He said only two per cent of these deaths were hospital faults and the other 16 per cent were due to ambulances not having the proper equipment. Dr. Otto K. Engelke, director of the county Health Department, told the supervisors the ordinance did not allow additional equipment to be required "at the whim of the h e a 1 1 h officer." He said the officer would be only an administrator and the policies regarding equipment would be established by the Health Board. He added that any complaints against the I officer could be brought before the Health Board for a final determination. Keyes, however, said his clients objected also to the Health Board being able to make the final determination. He said this would allow the board to be both "the judge and the jury" to the laws they set. He said this also was an example of how the ordinance was not in the interest of the public well being. Keyes also took the opportunity to level a blast at the county for setting up subsidized ambulance service with Superior Ambulance, saying it was not only a ''government approved monopoly but also a government created monopoly." Dr. Frey responded that the major trouble with ambulance service in the past was that they were not properly reimbursed. He said until recent years it was not recognized that really good ambulance service was possible, but now he said the subsidization makes it possible. Supr. Brent F. Nielsen, chairman of the Board of Supervisors, told the speakers that the "subsidy was not of our choosing." He said the board was left with no other alternative two years ago when most of the funeral directors of the county announced they were going to discontinue the service because of loss of money. The board postponed action on the ordinance until a later date. Supervisors indicated a special board meeting will be called, perhaps for Dec. 30, to take final action on the ordinance. Also, a meeting of the board's Health, Education and Welfare Committee may be scheduled for Monday for further discussion of the objections entered by Staffan and Moore funeral homes. Also to be decided at the special board meeting will be the county's appropriation to the 1 Mental Health Department for its 1970 budget. While supervisors said they still have some reservations about the programs and money needed to run that department, the major roadblock now appears to be salaries paid to mental health employés. Assistant Administrator K. Ross Childs has been working with the department in an effort to bring the higher salaries of department workers more in line with what other county employés make. While the department's budget was left in limbo, the supervisors did pass a resolution of intention to provide enough funds for Mental Health to create a program in Ypsilanti-Willow Run área similar to Crisis Walk-In Clinic in Ann Arbor.