History

NorthStar Paramedic Services, Inc. has been in operation since April 1992. Founded in Tuscaloosa County by Tony Smelley, a paramedic who worked for an ambulance provider for several years and felt that he could improve the level of service available to it's residents. Adopting the motto, "Excellence in Prehospital Emergency Medicine", NorthStar has made an effort to hire the most qualified medical and support personnel available, provide them with up to date equipment, foster a supportive, professional environment, offer extensive clinical and professional development opportunities as well as maintain an active role in the communities we serve.

In the time we have been in operation, NorthStar has always answered the call for assistance. In 1993, we entered Pickens County, Alabama, at the request of the community, to increase the level of care available to that rural area. By combining two Basic Life Support services into a unified Advance Life Support service, we have been able to maintain eight full time positions as well as offer a level of service difficult to maintain in a rural county.

1995 brought NorthStar the opportunity to enter the Jefferson County market. Our largest service area, Jefferson County offers numerous challenges as well as remarkable benefits to our company. We currently staff 8-12 units daily, employ 70 full time employees and serve approximately 650,000 citizens in Jefferson County. NorthStar's commitment to Jefferson County has included improved equipment, improved clinical standards and numerous educational opportunities to our employees as well as affiliated organizations.

In March 1997, NorthStar began serving Franklin County with stations in Russellville and Red Bay, Alabama. This operation combines elements of both rural and urban operations. In May 1998, we opened to the citizens of St. Clair County, offering Advanced Life Support services to it's citizens. 1998 presented further opportunities for the NorthStar family as we opened offices in Sumter County, at the request of the local government, in September and Calhoun County in November of that year. January 2001 brought our operations to Talladega County.

NorthStar started operation in Lauderdale County, Alabama September 1, 2001 and we are very excited about serving this new area with our high-caliber service level. Our operation in North Alabama will necessitate the implementation of a local communications center, offering Emergency Medical Dispatch service as well as centralized coordination activities for that area.

NorthStar EMS, Inc. is the administrative arm of the NorthStar family. Its operations include centralized billing functions as well as a state-of-the-art Communications Center. The Communications Center offers around the clock dispatch, coordination and control functions for the majority of the NorthStar companies. All billing and reimbursement matters are handled through a central location, offering NorthStar customers a "one-stop shopping" environment for all matters related to their bill.

NorthStar also utilizes its Medic Assist Center to improve the collection and processing of patient and call information. Unique in Alabama, Medic Assist allows field crews to concentrate on patient care and less on the ever-changing world of medical reimbursement. Medic Assist is a dictation/transcription service that collects patient information and generate Patient Care Reports and begin the billing process at the patient side, providing for fewer errors than traditional paper-based documentation systems. Medic Assist uses the highly flexible EMS Solutions 2000 software system from HealthWare Solutions, LLC. to collect information and satisfy all billing and data collection needs in one easy-to-use program.

NorthStar employs 300 people in a variety of positions. Of the field staff, better than 90% of our employees are Paramedics and advanced level EMTs. We serve 1.1 million citizens in eight counties and handle in excess of 50,000 patient contacts and transports a year.. We are the only private EMS provider to offer Critical Care Transport services through a cooperative agreement with DCH Regional Medical Center in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. We stand ready to serve the citizens of Alabama and surrounding states as a proven provider of ambulance transport and other associated services.