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Fire Chief M. Stuart McElhaney

Many firsts define the last year. Barack Obama became the first African American to be elected President of the United States, and Sarah Palin became the first Vice Presidential candidate on the Republican ticket. Locally, Bobby James became the first African American to win a seat on the school board and serve as chairman. And we all felt the raw exhilaration when Michael Phelps won a record eight gold medals beating Mark Spitz's 1972 record.

We at Marion County Fire Rescue (MCFR) also embarked in one of the most historic events in our department's history: the ambulance service acquisition.

As a new day dawned on October 1 of 2008, the previous ambulance service, known as the Emergency Medical Services Alliance (EMSA), dissolved, and MCFR added ambulance transport to its growing mission.

To prepare for this significant transition, Marion County Commissioner Charlie Stone appointed a five-member citizen task force back in April of 2007 to research various ambulance service models. Commissioners held multiple workshops to review the findings of the task force and discussed viable alternatives. Then in January of 2008, commissioners concluded that providing countywide ambulance service through MCFR was the most cost effective and efficient way to ensure continuity of the ambulance service.

MCFR's ambulance plan called for 237 new positions and immediately increased the number of ambulances ready to respond at any given time. MCFR now staffs a total of 28 ambulances and plans to add more units in the future.

Instead of idling ambulances at street corners or gas stations, most MCFR ambulances have home bases either at fire stations or other central locations. We stagger shifts and move units to different locations when necessary, dispatching the closest available units to all emergencies.

We believe this approach will save gas money and minimize wear on our ambulances. This will also provide a better work environment for employees, who now have a more comfortable home base and easier access to training activities.

Change of this magnitude is seldom easy and often evokes strong emotions. However, we have dutifully and proudly embraced this change. More importantly, the level of service now is higher than ever before, and we accomplished our transition goals without increasing taxes.

We look forward to what the future holds and will continue doing whatever it takes to serve the public and meet the needs of our citizens. We couldn't do it without our employees and volunteers, visionary elected leaders and, of course, the citizens who support our department with their hard-earned dollars.