Oklahoma City, OK – An advisory board has backed off asking for a rule change that could have cut ambulance service in rural areas.
The board instead will try to find a legislative solution.
The Oklahoma Emergency Response System and Development Advisory Committee named Betty Roan of Tishomingo to head a subcommittee to ask for help from the Legislature for financially troubled ambulance companies.
The subcommittee also will work on a new rule governing the responsibility of ambulance providers to respond to calls for help outside their service area.
Some ambulance companies say they're losing money because they must serve outlying communities without compensation.
The advisory board proposes rules to the state Department of Health. That agency can reject the proposals or send them to the Legislature.