SELMAVILLE — Kelly and Don Knevitt know how to help others and are extending that help to Franklin County residents. They also know about sorrow and loss, which is one of the reasons they started Air & Medical Emergency Services.With the fate of Mercy Regional Emergency Health Services in question, the couple offered their service to County Board members in January.
They currently transport patients from throughout Southern Illinois to the kidney dialysis center in West City and said they could easily handle more transport calls.“We offered Franklin County Board members the use of two ambulances and could have more ready to add within a week and a half,” Knevitt said. “All they have to do is let us know what they need.
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We have offices in Newton and Odin and our corporate office is located in Salem,” she said. “We serve patients via car service and non-emergency ambulance stretcher service in the Franklin County area. We are only in the area when the sheriff’s department contacts us.
Knevitt said they started a search and rescue service in Feb. 2001. “We became incorporated in March 2002 and had an official start date in May of that year in honor of my cousin,” she said. “My cousin, Tim Nolte, had spina bifida. During one of his surgeries, doctors removed the wrong kidney and he was placed on dialysis.
“Don was working for an ambulance service that was transporting Tim to and from dialysis treatments and started experiencing delays in transporting him,” Knevitt said. “He went to work for another ambulance company and again saw that there were long delays in the transport service,” she said. “We decided we would transport him ourselves and found an old ambulance to use. The 1991 Ford was painted green and we told Tim that the color green symbolized intelligence and integrity. He said it was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen. He passed away before he could ride in the ambulance and we put everything on hold for a few months.”
Don Knevitt said Tim was his wife’s best friend.
“Tim was only 35 when he died,” he said. “Just knowing him was a great thing. Tim’s mom always warned Kelly not to get too close to her cousin because she knew he would not live long. We named our trucks T1, T2 and T3 for Timmy. The first truck had the color green on the back. After Tim passed away, we had all of the trucks painted green. They are all marked beginning with the letter T in memory of him.”
Kelly Knevitt said her cousin inspired the couple to pursue their dream. “Tim is the reason that we fight for the underdog,” she said. “Sometimes, patients don’t have a voice. We are that voice. This is his legacy.”
To supplement the couple’s income, Kelly teaches CPR and first aid courses through Rend Lake College. “I also train the car service drivers and attendants, which is a state requirement,” she said. “I teach advanced life support and pediatric advance life support, and am certified to teach EMTs. Some of the classes are offered to the public free of charge through the college.”
Knevitt said AMES provides services to the Illinois Department of Mental Health. “We have five ambulances and transport patients from Interstate 70 south and throughout the southern part of the state,” he said. “The Department of Mental Health has asked us to transport patients throughout the entire state but we told them we would not be able to give the same quality of service and that would not be fair to their clients. I would rather say that we can’t do it than to give bad service. We run two ambulances on a contractual basis.”
Kelly Knevitt said she started in the medical field in 1987. “I started in the Army as a lab technician and was also in the Army Reserves,” she said. “I have a daughter that is also in the Army and a sister that is getting ready to retire from the Air Force. Don was also in the service and his father was a Marine.
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We have been in contact with the VA Medical Center in Marion about providing ambulance transport service,” Knevitt said. “We are involved in providing service for psychiatric patients to and from the VA Medical Center and are in a unique situation. We have been asked if we were available to provide transport service but did not have a contract. A VA representative has asked us for a letter of intent and we said that we would pick up where Mercy Regional Emergency Health Services leaves off.”
Don Knevitt said one of their ambulance drivers is a disabled veteran. “We told the VA Medical Center that we would reinstate the wheelchair van service and are waiting on their decision,” he said. “We want to make sure that we take care of the veterans because they have taken care of us.”
Kelly Knevitt said they provide both ALS and BLS services. “Those certified in Basic Life Support can handle emergency situations,” she said. “Advanced Life Support certification gives us the ability to start IV’s, use advanced air way and the cardiac monitor. Rend Lake College started offering a BLS program a year ago.
“Robert Hyman, our EMS coordinator, teaches classes for paramedics and is a patient advocate,” she said. “He stepped up to the plate and offered Franklin County our services. He inspected our ambulances and has certified that we are qualified to provide ALS service to residents.”
Don Knevitt said the couple wants to be more centrally located. “We can get to Franklin County in 45 minutes from Salem but want to learn more about the county,” he said. “I started in the medical field in 1997, with the Mt. Vernon Fire Department. I had worked for the Sesser Fire Protection District prior to that. I met Kelly when I was taking my paramedic clinicals. She was an emergency room nurse when we met.”
He said AMES currently employs 10 people. “This is a skeleton crew, compared with what we would need to provide emergency service,” Knevitt said. “We have received applications and phone calls from employees with Mercy Regional Emergency Health Services. We are prepared to offer jobs to a few of them, depending upon what Franklin County wants us to do. We have not been asked to respond to 911 calls as of yet. We have the equipment and supplies and are prepared hire more staff to accommodate what is needed. We work with vendors in Pennsylvania and Arizona. All of our ambulances are inspected for quality.”
Kelly Knevitt said they are not interested in having the newest equipment. “We operate used ambulance trucks,” she said. “The equipment does not have to be brand new. We are more concerned about taking care of our patients. We can offer Franklin County stability. We are in this for the long haul. What you see is what you get. We don’t tell fluff just to get your attention or your business.”
She said 911 service does not keep an ambulance service in business. “Franklin County has a high percentage of Medicare and no-pay clients that is about 60 percent of business for the current ambulance service,” Knevitt said. “We understand the importance of providing transports because that is where the money is. Don is the lowest paid employee for a reason. We know if he can’t make it on what he is getting paid, neither can the rest of the employees.
“Our billing agent is also certified,” Kelly Knevitt said. “We can ask for an audit every six months.
That is one of our safeties. We want to know if we are doing something wrong and an audit will tell us that. We believe very strongly in being audited.”
Don Knevitt said the couple is certified to teach first responders. “This is the basic criteria for those answering 911 calls,” she said. “We offer basic paramedic training. Kelly teaches intermediate and registered nurse courses. Before adding course offerings, she submits a course outline to the EMS coordinator, Robert Hyman, who forwards that to the state for approval.”
Both said they are not in the ambulance service business to make money. “This is about helping people,” Kelly Knevitt said. “If it was just about the money, we would have abandoned this cause long ago. We only budget for Medicare payments because that is a guarantee. It takes 14 days for a Medicare claim to be paid and they are direct deposited into a special account. Those interested in starting an ambulance service must realize that it takes about six months to get claims paid when just starting out. It takes at least six months of revenue in advance to get this type of business up and running due to the delay in claims payment.”
Don Knevitt said all they need is a building and help with dispatch. “We have stepped up to the plate and are prepared to offer our service to the residents of Franklin County,” he said. “Kelly rides along with the staff at least once a year to evaluate what everyone is doing. We are dedicated and ready to help.”
