Adams County Supervisors had a great idea — using the power citizens vest in them to improve ambulance response times for residents.

Unfortunately, this week the supervisors — or a majority of them — proved they lacked the guts to move forward with a plan to actually improve Adams County’s current dysfunctional system.

The discussion started months ago after Supervisor David Carter learned of a case in which a resident in a rural part of the county had to wait an inordinately long period of time after calling 911.

The situation didn’t make sense to Carter so he began asking questions.

Discussions on the matter ultimately revealed Adams County is unique in its antiquated approach to emergency medical response.

While the great majority of counties in Mississippi have a sole provider relationship with an ambulance provider for 911 calls, Adams County offers the ultimate in capitalism — we let anyone come to play, and we simply rotate calls regardless of location.

The result could mean an ambulance company whose nearest ambulance is in northern Adams County may be dispatched to an auto accident in an extreme southern portion of the county — even if a competing ambulance provider has a unit closer.

We’ve all ignorantly worked under that system for years. Carter attempted to modernize the system by suggesting the county simply sign an exclusive contract with a single provider. In that contract, the county could specify minimum average response times and hold the company accountable for meeting those minimums.

Instead, three supervisors voted to kick the can down the road a bit to see if plans to centralize ambulance dispatching will improve times.

This is a case when the rest of the world has this figured out, and we’re fooling ourselves that we, somehow, know better. We urge supervisors to quickly reconsider the matter and seek outside, professional help in crafting a contract that puts the safety of Adams County residents first.