County discusses EMS, fire district vehicles
Staff reporter
Interim Emergency Medical Services Director Larry Larsen said he was concerned about some issues regarding the Lincolnville first response vehicle and equipment.
Currently the vehicle is not stored in a building and at the mercy of the elements. The equipment that was used in the first response vehicle now is used in a fire truck. Larsen said he's not sure how the county-owned equipment is used and by whom.
If the fire truck is responding to a fire, how would medical equipment be used in the first responder vehicle should there be a call at the same time? Larsen asked.
Larsen suggested there be a written agreement between the county and Lincolnville to establish protocol for equipment and use.
In other department business:
— There were 76 ambulance calls in December. Of those calls, 32 were for Hillsboro, 17 for Marion, 16 for Peabody, five for Tampa, and three each for Florence and Marion backup.
There were 21 medical emergencies, 16 transfers, 11 each cardiac and falls, 10 no transports, three turnarounds, two standbys, and one each motor vehicle accident and code black (death).
Goessel first response had seven runs, Burns and Durham and one each, and Lincolnville had none. Marion rescue went out once.
For the year, there were 994 calls, a decrease from 2005 when there were 1,007.
— During December there was $20,440 of total billing with $1,944 collected so far.
For the year, $281,979 was billed and $215,317 collected. Write-offs to date were $22,885.
— Larsen will check into the status of rescue trucks within the county. He questioned why the Marion rescue truck is dispatched for all rescue calls when other rescue vehicles are available.
— Volunteer Sharon Schmill of Peabody will retire after more than 20 years of EMS service.
— Larsen reported he has met with former EMS director Darryl Thiesen to discuss projects that Thiesen implemented.
