Pulse Emergency Medical Services

Owners: Vester Cripps, Bill O’Hare

Address: P.O. Box 261,

Siloam Springs 72764

Phone: 524-0989

Hours: 24 hours, 7 days

Start-Up Date: May 1

Every problem has a solution, and the solution in Siloam Springs may be Pulse Emergency Medical Services.

“We are basically a transfer service,” says Bill O’Hare, who owns the business with Vester Cripps. “Mainly we transfer patients from hospital to hospital, nursing home to hospital or vice versa.”

The company was started this spring by Cripps and O’Hare, both Siloam Springs Fire Department members who were aware of the city’s efforts to lower its insurance rating. One of the qualifications for a lower rating — which often translates into reduced insurance premiums — requires the fire department to receive hundreds of hours of additional training, a task that was complicated because the fire department also assisted with medical transfers.

“Siloam Springs has realized that they have a fire department that does [emergency medical services] work,” says O’Hare. “The transfers are important work, but they are not an emergency. And it was interfering with the fire department’s training. … So I had the idea to start a service.”

O’Hare said it took about a year of research and other types of preparation to open Pulse. Now, hospitals and other medical facilities can call the company when they need assistance, and, O’Hare adds, since all the employees are off-duty firefighters, the company also serves as a back-up to the city’s medical services.

Pulse is certified by the state of Arkansas as an advanced life support paramedic ambulance service.