JOHN COFFELTEditor

The Coffee County Ambulance Authority authorized at the Nov. 16 meeting the use of an out of service ambulance for use by the medical examiner.

Coffee County Emergency Medical Service Director Michael Bonner said the already shorthanded service is tied up sometimes for hours when a death occurs due.

Bonner said that when a death occurs at a residence, an ambulance is dispatched, the paramedic confirms the victim is deceased and law enforcement is dispatched to the scene.

“We all come out, do our (investigation), take pictures and all that,” Bonner said. “That whole time that ambulance is out of service, sitting there waiting there for us.”

Only after all the investigators are finished can the ambulance transport the body to the morgue or in some cases the funeral home.

Bonner suggested that if the medical examiner has his own unit, it would free-up that ambulance to respond to calls. Officials on the scene could help load the victim into the ambulance.

“If it’s questionable, an overdose or murder, it can really tie-up an ambulance for a long time Bonner said. “It would benefit EMS greatly for the medical examiner to have that ambulance and get our ambulance back in service.”

The medical examiner’s office budget only includes a small stipend for the medical examiner’s pay and a line item for autopsies, so currently there is no funds for the maintenance, insurance and fuel for the vehicle.

The Ambulance Authority decided to keep those cost in EMS’s budget for the remainder of the fiscal year to get an estimate of the cost and then that will be added to the medical examiner budget request for next year.

In September of 2015, Coffee County Ambulance Service purchased the Mercedes-Benz Sprinter, a small, van-type ambulance, for $80,000. Despite the cost savings over a traditional box ambulance that at the time cost between $150,000-200,000, some members of the Ambulance Authority and the EMTs who rode in the unit disliked the confined space in the Mercedes and was pulled from the fleet.

Transferring the unit passed with 4-0 vote and Ambulance Authority Member and Medical Examiner Dr. Jay Trussler abstaining.

John has been with the Manchester Times since May 2011. John has won Tennessee Press Association awards for Best News Photo and placed in numerous other categories. John is a 1994 graduate of Tullahoma High School, a graduate of Motlow State Community College and earned a Bachelor of Arts in English from Middle Tennessee State University. He lives in Tullahoma, enjoys painting, dancing and exploring the outdoors.