Spirit EMS deploys crews to assist Hurricane Ian victims

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GREENVILLE — Spirit EMS has again answered the call and is responding to a request for assistance in anticipation of Hurricane Ian making landfall later this week along the Florida coast.

As a network provider under American Medical Response’s (AMR) contract with the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), Spirit has sent seven ambulances and 14 crewmembers along with additional medical supplies.

Spirit anticipates the crews will be on a 14-day activation, but that can change as the situation evolves. The crews will stay in the area as long as needed. When the crews arrive at their assigned staging area, they will be working under the guidance of FEMA, state, and local EMS agencies.

Five ambulances from Spirit left Monday afternoon and two left Tuesday afternoon, during two phases of deployment activations by AMR.

“As first responders, we provide care to those in need, so we help provide assistance to residents and communities being impacted by this incoming storm as people are being asked to evacuate,” said Brian K. Hathaway, the president and CEO of Spirit EMS. “While we are deploying resources to stage away from the main path of the storm, this will not affect our ability to continue providing medical care for the areas we serve across west central Ohio and eastern Indiana.”

Hathaway explained that Spirit has been a network provider for AMR since 2019 and truly values the partnership. He said the company sends a mix of full-time employees and part-time special event and disaster relief personnel whenever they are activated for deployment.

“It’s a privilege for our family of professionals to be a part of these deployments whenever the need arises,” Hathaway said. “We have a group of dedicated employees who remain ready should the call for a deployment occur. On Monday afternoon when we were activated, everyone that was called up to respond arrived on station and were ready to respond within a couple of hours. It’s gratifying to see the support their friends and family show as they head off on these missions.”

He said that employees from several of the stations the company has across Ohio and Indiana are represented on this deployment. Spirit has stations in Greenville, Celina, Houston, Sidney and Van Wert in Ohio and Liberty in Indiana.

AMR is FEMA’s prime emergency medical service response provider and has a national agreement with FEMA to provide ground ambulance, air ambulance, paratransit services, and non-ambulance EMS personnel to supplement the federal and military response to a disaster, an act of terrorism, or any other public health emergency.

About American Medical Response

American Medical Response, Inc., America’s leading provider of medical transportation, provides services in 40 states and Washington, D.C.

More than 28,000 AMR paramedics, EMTs, RNs, and other professionals work together to transport more than 4.8 million patients nationwide each year in critical, emergency, and non-emergency situations. AMR also provides fire services through Rural Metro Fire Department. For more information about AMR, visit amr.net and follow American Medical Response on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

AMR is part of the Global Medical Response family of companies. Global Medical Response, Inc. is the industry-leading air, ground, specialty, and residential fire services, and managed medical transportation organization. With more than 38,000 employees, GMR delivers compassionate, quality medical care, primarily in the areas of emergency, and patient relocation services in the United States and around the world. For more information, visit globalmedicalresponse.com.

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