Central EMS shows progress after moving to Augusta

AUGUSTA, Ga. (WRDW/WAGT) – The city of Augusta is still clawing its way back after a cyber-attack.

On Tuesday, the tag office posted a sign saying they are now accepting property taxes. On Friday, they were not.

Meanwhile, Central EMS was only operating in Augusta for a month before the cyber-attack.

We were outside their headquarters to look at the roadblocks they were facing.

It’s still down to radio communications while online medical records are unavailable between Central EMS Headquarters and the E-911 Center.

And an upgrade the city approved is on hold until the cyber issues get worked out.

In with the new, out with the old.

Central EMS says they are ready to get rid of the old flip book systems for upgraded electronic systems that walk dispatchers through giving on-the-phone lifesaving advice.

“We have outfitted the majority of our systems to receive through the computers,” said Gary Coker, president of Central EMS.

When the cyber issues clear up, they can upgrade those systems.

In the meantime, they’re adding more staff and ambulances- 10 at peak hours and 14 within the next week.

Just under 100 workers are working with 25 currently training at the Augusta University Medical Center.

“Everything, as far as we’re concerned on the ambulance end, is going as planned. We’re on schedule, in fact, we believe we’ll be ahead of schedule on the operations we committed. So I think the citizens are going to see an improvement,” said Coker.

They’ve also almost finalized their new headquarters location, set to be off of I-520.

So, while the cyber issues Augusta has been faced with have slowed things down for radio communication, they say they’re still making strides.

“We’re just readying our system and waiting on the 911 center,” said Coker.

Central EMS originally said they would have the new dispatch system up and ready by the end of June, but with this cyber slowdown, it’s unclear when they’ll even return to regular communications.

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