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May 17, 2024 <br />Dave Johnson, Director of Emergency Services <br />Indian River County <br />422543 Id Avenue <br />Vero Beach, FL. 32967 <br />Via email: djohnson@indianriver.gov <br />National Health Transport objects to Elite Medical Response obtaining a class B COPCN in Indian <br />River County. At the present time there are seven COPCN holders, National Health Transport, All <br />County Ambulance, American Ambulance, Coastal Ambulance, East Coast Ambulance, AMT <br />Ambulance (Cleveland Clinic) and HCA Ambulance. <br />Ambulance services are not like restaurants and other businesses. If there were an infinite number <br />of customers, or in our case patients, then perhaps an open COPCN process would make sense. <br />Because this is not the case, there are a finite number of ALS and BLS transports. There are three <br />hospital systems; HCA ambulance handles their own transports from the stand-alone Emergency <br />Department located in Vero Beach, Cleveland Clinic handles their own transports from Cleveland <br />Clinic Indian River hospital, thus leaving five providers to fight for the transports of one hospital. <br />Also, unlike other businesses, your current providers must staff ambulances 24 hours per day, 7 <br />days per week, and 365 days a year. Adding another provider will further dilute what very limited <br />revenue is available to those that have invested in your community, not shipping the proceeds out <br />of the state to New York. <br />As a comparison, St Lucie County has five COPCN holders and the call volume is twice that of <br />Indian River. St Lucie COPCN application process is closed to any additional ambulance <br />applications. Martin County has four COPCN holders and their COPCN application process is also <br />closed. Okeechobee County has five COPCN holders. <br />Elite Medical Response has stated in their factual statement that more ambulances are needed in s <br />F <br />Indian River County. Elite alluded to responding to Skilled Nursing and Assisted Living Facilities <br />thus leaded them to believe there are far more transports in Indian River County than truly exist. In <br />fact, the response to these types of facilities is prohibited by ordinarMe in Indian River County. The <br />factual statement was clearly derived from a study that was not produced in Indian River County, <br />83 <br />