Effective Oct. 1, MetroAtlanta Ambulance Service will begin operating in Bartow County.
By Kristal Dixon, Patch Staff
CARTERSVILLE, GA — Bartow County is days away from its transition to team up with a private company to provide ambulance services to citizens in its jurisdiction. Effective Monday, Oct.1, MetroAtlanta Ambulance Service will take over this role currently provided by Bartow County Emergency Medical Services.
Metro has been the 9-1-1 Zone provider for Cobb County and the cities of Acworth, Kennesaw, Marietta and Smyrna since 2001, the county notes. Paulding County and the cities of Dallas and Hiram were added to the company's service district in 2013. Metro has also operated multiple ambulances in the county for several years under contract with Cartersville Medical Center for transports, the county previously said.
With this change set to take place on Monday, the city of Cartersville said this week its firefighters conducted the first of several in-service training session with MetroAtlanta. Those firefighters went over treatment protocols, equipment operations and "expectations of service" between the Cartersville Fire Department and MetroAtlanta.
"It is critical that all of the citizens and guests in the city of Cartersville receive the same, if not higher, quality of service and care that they have known," Cartersville Fire Chief Scott Carter said. "In order to provide that high level of service, we must have a solid team approach between us and Metro/ATL as the EMS provider. These training sessions help us to reach that goal."
The city noted future training sessions are in the works, its Facebook page indicates. Across the county, Bartow County Administrator said county employees transitioning to the new service have gone through orientation to become familiar with MetroAtlanta's policies and procedures.