Excerpts from wandtv.com:

In less than a year, Mattoon has gone from three ambulance services to one. Now, the city council is placing a moratorium on a new service trying to come to town for up to the next six months.

The city pulled the fire department out of ambulance business in July 2018, citing budget issues. Last week, Dunn’s Ambulance Service announced it was leaving the city due to staffing issues. Mitchell-Jerdan is now the only ambulance provider left.

The local firefighters union is still trying to get the city to reconsider the ambulance service as they also negotiate a new labor contract. Union president Bart Owen says Mitchell-Jerdan has had issues fulfilling the need on its own in the past.

“It hate to say ‘wait and see’ again, but we’ll have to watch this,” Owen said. “We are not staffing [our ambulances]. They are in storage…they are technically still an option here. But we’re being told they’re not an option at this time.”

But the mayor and city council have remained firm: the city-run ambulance service was cost this city money and wasn’t viable long term.

“Do you want us to cut police officers?” asked city commissioner Preston Owen. “Do you want us to cut ambulance services duplicated? Do you want us to stop filling potholes? That’s the choice.”

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Excerpts from jg-tc.com:

Taylorville-based Dunn’s Ambulance has given notice that it plans to close its Mattoon operation sometime on or before May 31, which would leave Mattoon based Mitchell-Jerdan Ambulance Service as the sole provider of ambulance services in Mattoon. Dunn’s has been operating in Mattoon since 2008 and has an ambulance station at 1821 Marshall Ave.

The city ended the Mattoon Fire Department’s ambulance service on July 25, but the department has retained advanced life support equipment on its fire trucks to provide backup service as needed. The fire department operated an advanced life support ambulance service from 2010 to 2018. City officials have said that the department’s ambulance service lost money and duplicated the work of private providers. Firefighters countered that their service generated needed city revenue and provided essential coverage for Mattoon.

Mitchell-Jerdan has increased its ambulance and staffing levels since the fire department’s ambulance service ended and it has provided backup for Dunn’s as needed. There have been a few instances in recent months of Charleston Fire Department ambulances needing to be dispatched to Mattoon for backup.

Tags: chicagoareafire.com, Dunn's Ambulance, Mattoon FD to discontinue ambulance service, Mattoon Fire Department, Mattoon Fire District, Mitchell-Jerdan Ambulance Service, private ambulance service takes over EMS from fire department, private ambulance services pulls out of deal to provide EMS coverage