Accountability is a favorite buzzword for consultants. They get paid lots of money to throw around the word.

Pinning people down on accountability issues, however, can be the solution to lots of problems, especially in &8220;systems&8221; that are not maximized or efficient.

When the question of who is accountable becomes unclear or is murky, bad things can happen.

Such is the case with any kind of system that requires revolving responsibility. One such system is Adams County&8217;s emergency ambulance system.

Currently, the plan involves a revolving responsibility, or &8220;rotation,&8221; to dispatch ambulances.

In an ideal world, the system should work. Unfortunately, the world isn&8217;t ideal.

Earlier this year, the result of poor communication and poor performance caused a nightmare scenario &8212; a man died while an ambulance crew got lost, eventually reaching the location some 40 minutes after being called.

The county supervisors are considering finally addressing the problem by drafting a law regulating emergency medical services.

The county could resolve the issue once and for all, however, by seeking bids for the county&8217;s exclusive ambulance provider. The details can be managed by writing a tight bid description and a contract that includes standard measures of service quality.

When the responsibility goes to one company, the accountability issues usually go away. The buck stops there, to steal a phrase coined by President Truman.

We&8217;d like to know &8212; without a rotating doubt &8212; which will be accountable when we call for an ambulance. And we shouldn&8217;t need a consultant to tell us.