By Tuesday night, the city's emergency medical service provider was determined to prove Mr. Mays wrong - and prove a point by dispatching fire engines to everything from a nosebleed to a seizure.

Rural/Metro officials said they were angered at Mr. Mays' comments - made during an open session of the Augusta Commission's public safety committee.

"To stand up and say something in a public forum and you can't even rebut it - I guess I did react to that negatively," said Doug Hooten, the regional general manager for Rural/Metro.

That reaction was swift: By 5 p.m. Tuesday, Rural/Metro had advised its dispatchers to call for fire department backup on all Priority 1 and Priority 2 calls - which basically amounts to any emergency.

During an average 24-hour period, 911 officials report, the fire department assists on fewer than 10 calls involving mostly unconscious, unresponsive or cardiac arresting patients.

Between Tuesday and Wednesday night, firefighters responded to more than 50 calls, including someone who fell down at a downtown gas station, and an elderly woman who got a nosebleed after tripping outside a south Augusta restaurant.

Bill Harris, the manager of Bill's Family Restaurant on Peach Orchard Road, said firefighters showed up to treat his customer about five minutes before an ambulance arrived.

"She was OK," he said. "She just needed to sit up in a chair. I thought it was pretty neat that they had come by and stopped."

He said he didn't think twice about the extra attention from firefighters.

But the citywide increase in dispatched fire engines grabbed the attention of government officials.

"It was quite a response," said City Administrator George Kolb. "It was unexpected, but the fire department responded."

Mr. Kolb called a meeting Wednesday with Rural/Metro, fire officials and the 911 center, and as of Thursday, emergency responses were back to normal. A new emphasis is now being placed on bettering communications between EMS and the fire department.

In retrospect, Mr. Hooten said, he snapped.

"It certainly was a little bit of a reactionary thing," he said. "In hindsight, we wouldn't do it."

That reaction is being characterized by some as childish.

"They shouldn't let other people's remarks affect the way they do things," interim Fire Chief Carl Scott said. "I don't know what they were trying to prove, but we're a fire department, and when the community calls us, we just get up and go."

Commissioner Jerry Brigham, who has helped negotiate a one-year extension of Rural/Metro's contract that is set to expire Dec. 31, said the ambulance company's response was somewhat justified.

"I think (Rural/Metro) felt like they were doing an excellent job and that some of their practices were brought into question - they flew hot," Mr. Brigham said. "It's a very human response."

Reach Heidi Coryell Williams at (706) 823-3215.