Treutlen Board of Commissioners Confronts a Lack of Ambulances

County Manager Joseph Glenn spoke to the Treutlen County Board of Commissioners during their monthly meeting on June 1 about a plan to raise the number of ambulances in the county from one to two.

The lack of two ambulances in the county results in “major risks” for residents, Glen told the board, such as longer response times, up to 60 minutes to and from the nearest hospital. Some residents have begun taking themselves to hospitals instead.

In addition to placing a strain on local first responders, Glenn also said the issue has caused the county to overuse mutual aid from other counties, resulting in some mutual aid calls being denied.

Treutlen County called for mutual aid ambulance services 42 times in 2025, with 14 of those calls being denied. One of the received calls, which required a helicopter for an airlift, would have been denied had someone not made a personal phone call asking for assistance.

“The one that bothered me the most is there was one call that was actually denied for mutual aid, until one person on the scene made a personal phone call,” said Glenn. “It took a personal phone call from somebody that was on the scene to get out to that call.”

Glenn presented the board with three options to raise the number of ambulances in the county up to two.

The first option would be to bring on the ambulances through Atrium Health Navicent EMS, which already provides the county’s current ambulance. According to Glenn, this would be the easiest method, utilizing pre-built rapport and eliminating staffing concerns, though everything would be handled by third parties.

The second option would be to purchase two ambulances with 2019 SPLOST funds and hire medics to operate them. While reintroducing staffing concerns, this option would place the entire operation in-house and offer the county greater control.

The third option, similar to the second, would be to purchase two ambulances and contract out operation to a third party of medics. Under this path, the ambulances would be owned by Treutlen County, and staffing concerns would be eliminated.

Glenn emphasized that while some options were more expensive than others, all the provided plans would require the county to raise funds. The first and third options would be cheaper up-front, but the second would offer the county more control for the higher price.

“You’ll notice, in every one of these cons, there is a need for more funds,” said Glenn. “There’s no way we’re going to be able to do any of them without a need for more funds.”

County Attorney James Garner also noted the second option would place the county at the highest degree of legal liability.

Glenn suggested potentially implementing an ambulance tax to fund the endeavor, with all money raised through the tax funneled into a designated ambulance fund and usable only for that project.

He also suggested scheduling town hall meetings to receive resident feedback on the ambulance issue and the options provided. This suggestion dovetailed with Commissioner Rodney Meek’s own suggestion to hold town hall meetings for upcoming economic development projects, so commissioners expressed an interest in combining these meetings.

“It could give us an opportunity to kind of get more people to come out, because you [have] two different issues,” said Board Chairman Phil Jennings. 

Glenn said he would present more concrete numbers during the board’s July meeting, which was rescheduled to July 1 at 4 p.m., and have the board decide on a path to move forward then. He aims to have two ambulances in Treutlen County by the end of the fiscal year 2027 budget.

“I desperately, desperately believe that we need to have two ambulances in this county,” said Glenn. “This is what I’ve been working on from the back side of things for roughly three months since I’ve been in this position.”

Ambulances were not the only first responder vehicles on the board’s agenda. EMA Director Justin McNure approached the board to ask about two purchases: an emergency support trailer and a side-by-side.

The “fairly somewhat new” $10,000 emergency support trailer from Haralson County would serve as a mobile command center for multiple departments, including firefighters, police investigators, hazmat responders and dive teams.

“This is something that we can absolutely use,” said McNure.

Commissioner Joey Powell offered a motion to purchase the trailer, which passed unanimously.

Described by McNure as “a good buy,” the side-by-side was a 2012 model offered for $5,000, which could also be used by multiple departments. Commissioner Thalia Gillis offered a motion to purchase the vehicle, which passed unanimously.