User:CivicBeach/sandbox

The Richmond Ambulance Authority (RAA) provides emergency medical services to the City of Richmond, Virginia. RAA is accredited by the National Commission on Accreditation of Ambulance Services (CAAS) and International Academies of Emergency Dispatch (IAED), making it the only agency in Virginia and just one of fourteen in the United States to meet the standards of both organizations. The authority has received multiple awards, including a "Governor's EMS Award" in 2025.^[1] RAA has hosted professional guests from across the world.^[2]

RAA was established in 1991 after the Virginia General Assembly passed the Richmond Ambulance Authority Act, setting the terms for a future ambulance authority within the city.^[3] RAA is headquartered at 2400 Hermitage Road.^[1]

According to RAA's annual report, it responded to over 53,000 calls in 2024, 87% of which were 911 responses. The authority operates 46 vehicles, 30 of which are its type III ambulances used for 911 response.^[4] In recent years, RAA has struggled to maintain adequate staffing; it reports that advanced life support staffing levels has averaged below 60% at times while struggling with high employee attrition.^[5] The Richmond Fire Department (RFD) responds alongside RAA to many of its calls, as all of RFD's firefighters are trained at the level of EMT or above. Additionally, RAA operates a quick response vehicle through UREMS, its subsidiary agency, on the University of Richmond campus.^[6]

In December 2023, RAA CEO Chip Decker sent a memo to the Richmond City Council addressing an insufficiency in Medicaid reimbursement for its services. The memo cited an average Medicaid reimbursement of $135 per transport despite the authority's average cost of approximately $598 per transport.^[7] This came six months after the RAA increased its cost to Medicare by 350%, in addition to other rate increases.^[7][8]

RAA's communications center used to field all medical 911 calls in the City of Richmond, in addition to dispatching the authority's ambulances and other units. In July 2024, Richmond's Department of Emergency Communications took over emergency medical dispatch. DEC has reported decreased time spent "coding" (or triaging) medical calls, but RAA contends that DEC's call-takers have coded these calls incorrectly, resulting in under-triage. RAA's units are left to upgrade calls that are dispatched as less serious than they turn out to be.^[9]