JONES COUNTY, Ga. — Emma Warren waited almost an hour before EMS arrived to Brown's Grove Church in Milledgeville, Georgia. She stopped there on her way back from her in-laws' house in Baldwin County when she was experiencing a heart attack. She knew stopping there would allow ambulance services to find her.
"If I had turned right off of Nelson instead of Haddock, I know I wouldn't be here today," Warren said.
Warren was near the Baldwin and Jones County line. Her call was sent Jones County because they were closest emergency personnel around. However, Jones County doesn't have an ambulance service that services the county. Warren told 13WMAZ the county's ambulance provider is sourced "out from Navicent in Macon." Jones County EMA director Don Graham confirmed this was true and said county commissioners have found a solution.
"The commissioners approved nine full-time personnel, firefighters and rescuers," Graham said.
He says the nine firefighters and rescue personnel will stabilize patients until an ambulance arrives and allow them to respond quicker to people in the county who need help. Those positions will be hiring soon and expect to be filled by December or January of 2023. Graham says the commissioners realize response time is a issue.
"They want to fix this," Graham said.
Warren had to be airlifted to Atrium Health Navicent in Macon. The former EMT and firefighter says she went into atrial fibrillation (A-fib) three times during the whole situation -- once while being airlifted, during transport, and again at the hospital. Warren went to a Jones County commissioners meeting about 18 months ago to talk solutions. She was told by one the commissioners she would be included in a task to find solutions.
"You know we need this, we need at least 3-4 ambulances to service our area, with the calls and the area that we have," Warren said.
Three weeks after her heart attack, she had to call emergency services to home. Warren says she "didn't even get mutual aid, first respond from Jones County volunteer department that's supposed to show up," and she wants to see ambulance services expanded in Jones County.