Rural/Metro responds to Loudon County's warning

 

(WBIR) Rural/Metro ambulance service said they will review an "on notice" letter sent to them last week by the Loudon County Commission.

The 60-day notice is a warning from the commission to improve services, or they will not renew the company's contract, set to expire at the end of 2015.

The notice from the county gave three examples where they say Rural/Metro acted improperly, including one allegation when a worker refused to transport the body of a man because he thought the corpse would quote "stink up the truck."

In a response, a Rural/Metro spokesperson told 10News there is a conflict of interest because two employees of the 911 board work for Priority Ambulance, another company that's already made agreements to be providers for Loudon and Lenoir City. 10News has not independently verified those claims.

"The company is prepared to respond accordingly. Upon initial review, Rural/Metro's management team takes issue with numerous items in the notice," said a spokesperson for Rural/Metro.

Among the items listed in the 60-day notice are long response times and not meeting "industry standards." Attorney Bob Bowman said response times should be 10 minutes or less. Rural/Metro did not comment on that claim.