Peabody has greatest need but no ambulance
Staff writers
In the 36 days in which Peabody has been without even a first-responder ambulance crew, more than one-quarter of all county ambulance calls have gone to Peabody addresses, according to a Record analysis of ambulance dispatches.
If Peabody would have had an ambulance during that period, it would have been the county’s busiest.
Peabody ambulance would have been the nearest ambulance for 38.6% of all calls received — narrowly edging out Marion ambulance and surpassing Hillsboro ambulance by a wide margin.
Instead, ambulances based in Hillsboro and to a lesser extent Marion handled calls to Peabody and its surrounding area, meaning rescuers were between 16 and 18 miles — and at least as many minutes — away.
Longtime Peabody ambulance attendants Tammy and Brian Whiteside retired in June after 29 and 28 years service, county ambulance director Chuck Kenney said Monday.
Former Police Chief Travis Wilson also was certified to respond to ambulance calls for 28 years, but since departing as chief is working out of town.
Peabody ambulance attendants must live within a five-minute commute of the ambulance station. It’s hard to find a volunteer within that distance or someone willing to move to Peabody for the $2 an hour ambulance attendants are paid while they are on call. They also receive $25 per ambulance run, Kenny said.
People are moving out of town because of how long it might take for an ambulance to arrive, county commissioner Randy Dallke said at Monday’s commission meeting.
Peabody resident Mark Stockman and his wife, Janelle, have lived there since 1990, but prompt medical care is nothing to take lightly for the couple.
“I got diagnosed with cancer, and we make a lot of trips to Newton,” Stockman said.
Last week, his wife had symptoms of a stroke or heart attack, so he called for an ambulance.
“I was outside wondering what was taking so long, and I found out we don’t have ambulance service anymore,” Stockman said.
That plus recent upheaval in the city, with key employees quitting or being fired “right and left,” Stockman said, left the couple no longer wanting to live there. They plan to move to Moundridge.
“That just put us over the edge,” Stockman said. “We love our house and my son-in-law’s family has lived for generations in Peabody.”
While Peabody has been without an ambulance, Hillsboro ambulance has picked up most of the slack even though Marion is two miles closer.
Fully 44.4% of calls answered by Hillsboro ambulance since May 30 have gone to Peabody addresses. That compares to just 40% of its calls going to Hillsboro addresses.
In addition, 9.3% of Marion ambulance calls have gone to Peabody addresses.
AMBULANCE CALLS BY COMMUNITY
Marion 28.9%
Peabody 26.7%
Hillsboro 20.0%
Rural areas 14.4%
Florence 4.4%
Marion Reservoir 3.3%
Goessel 1.1%
Marion County Lake 1.1%
CALLS BY AMBULANCE
Hillsboro ambulance 50.0%
Marion ambulance 47.8%
Tampa ambulance 2.2%
Source: Dispatches June 1 through July 7
Even calls to rural areas skew toward Peabody, with 38.5% of them occurring along US-50, nearer to Peabody than to Marion or Hillsboro.
An additional 6.7% were on county roads nearer to Peabody than any other town, bringing to 46.2% the total portion of rural calls that might best have been answered by a Peabody-based ambulance.
Of the remaining rural calls, 26.6% were nearest to Marion, 10.0% were nearest to Hillsboro, and 6.7% were nearest to Tampa.
Assuming Peabody had an ambulance, here’s how total calls would have broken down by the nearest of the county’s four ambulances:
CALLS BY NEAREST AMBULANCE
IF PEABODY’S WERE IN OPERATION
Peabody 38.6%
Marion 36.4%
Hillsboro 23.9%
Tampa 1.1%
These numbers represent only calls, not patients transported. A sizeable portion of ambulance calls do not result in patients being taken to hospitals.
Many, especially in Peabody, involve ambulance crews standing by, providing first aid, evaluating an injury or illness, or helping a patient who has fallen get up.
Kenney hopes to develop a full-time ambulance station at Peabody with full-time employees.
“Right now, we’re completely staffed as far as full-time but are looking for on-call people,” he said.
Peabody ambulance itself is in Marion for its monthly state inspection and inventory and was expected to return to the Peabody station by today, Kenney said.
Until Peabody ambulance can be staffed, Hillsboro ambulance will respond to calls west of Nighthawk Rd. and Marion ambulance will respond to calls east of Nighthawk Rd., Kenney said.
Since the bulk of Peabody is east of Nighthawk, this would switch Peabody calls from Hillsboro ambulance to Marion ambulance.