Seeking flexibilty

Taylor County will go to a lower licensing level in order to give greater flexibility for the ambulance service.

Members of the Taylor County Law Enforcement and Emergency Services committee on July 11 approved starting the process to reduce the county’s service license from Advanced EMT to Basic EMT.

“As service director I think this is the best plan to do,” said Bob Kirkley, who heads up the ambulance service for the region through Aspirus.

In the past, Gilman and Rib Lake had basic licenses and Medford had an advanced license. This reflects the level of training of the EMTs on the ambulance crews and impacts what medical procedures they are able to do to patients. When the licenses were merged into one license for the entire county, it was kept at the Advanced EMT level in order for the EMTs to continue to provide the advanced care. It would be nearly impossible to have separate licenses at each station because licenses require coverage 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.

This has presented headaches in regard to staffing ambulances because it requires that an AEMT certified individual be on every call or enroute to a call.

A change at the state level, allows greater flexibility in what emergency personnel are able to do. Under flex staffing, individual crews must perform at the base license level for the service, but are able to do more if the individuals are licensed to do more. What this means is that a licensed paramedic would be able to do paramedic-level treatments even if they were part of a basic EMT service.

See COUNTY on page 4 Currently the county is able to have flex staffing but only down to the advanced EMT level. By switching to the basic level, it would allow for greater staffing flexibility and potentially increasing the number of people willing to pick up ambulance shifts especially in the more rural areas.

Kirkley noted it would not impact what the county is currently paying for ambulance service, since the contract with Aspirus was already based on a basic level service rather than advanced.

“I think we need to be careful that we aren’t lowering the quality of care,” Kirkley said. He said they work to put all the EMTs through the skill station trainings as paramedics so that they have higher knowledge.

With the commitment to not reducing service to patients, Kirkley said he would rather downgrade the license than be forced to shut a truck down due to staffing.

“I see a positive to do it at this point,” said committee member Lorie Floyd. Emergency management director Dan Gellert raised the concern that from what he was told it was harder to go back up in the future if it was downgraded.

However, it was noted that with the ability to have flex staffing and people performing at their level of ability and training it would eliminate the need to have the advanced licensing for the ambulance service.

“If we did want to flex up we could,” Kirkley said.

Drop boxes

A plan to bring medication and sharps drop boxes back to the county courthouse is on pause after concerns raised by sheriff Larry Woebbeking.

The county previously had drop boxes for people to dispose of these items at the sheriff’s department, but they were removed several years ago after drop boxes were put in at the Aspirus Pharmacy at the hospital in Medford.

According to health director Michelle Cahoon this hasn’t stopped people from coming to her office and attempting to drop off medications and sharps there. By federal law, drop boxes can only be placed in pharmacies or in police and sheriff’s departments.

Members of the county’s opioid settlement committee proposed using a portion of the settlement funds received by the county to pay for the drop boxes and the safe disposal of unneeded medications. They explained that under the new system, they would have the option to have medications dropped into prelabeled boxes which could be shipped to the disposal location. Another option would be for the items to be stored and periodically transported to the state patrol in Wausau.

Unlike prior programs, there would be no sorting through the medications and people can throw out entire bottles. Melissa Moore from the health department, explained that any sheriff’s department time spent on this would be covered by the opioid settlement funds.

The goal of the program is to get the drugs out of the hands of the people who don’t need them with the plan to have collection points at the courthouse, Gilman Police Department and eventually at the Rib Lake Police Department.

Woebbeking was more cautious about wanting the county to get back into collecting medications. “It was a hassle, it was expensive and it was hard,” Woebbeking said of the previous collection system. “I didn’t miss it and I don’t miss it.”

Under the old system, the county would store the medicines collected in the evidence storage taking up limited space in there and the logistics of the process were not friendly to the department personnel.

“I am not trying to make enemies here, I just need to digest this,” Woebbeking said.

Moore noted that depending on which company they use it would be packaging it up and shipping it off whenever the box was full. The other is storing them and twice a year bringing them to the state patrol.

Woebbeking said he assumed it would fill up quickly. He noted that in the past it would be a pick-up load of medications going to the state patrol.

Cahoon said that right now people are coming to her office with them and when they are being told they can’t take them there, just leaving them in a courthouse trashcan.

Woebbeking said he would like to know more before agreeing to do the medication collection. No action was taken.

In other business, committee members:

★ Received an update from Woebbeking on coverage in Rib Lake with the vacancy in the police chief position there. He said he was told the village would be advertising for an officer soon and was asked about the village paying the county to have officers on site in the village during Ice Age Days. Woebbeking said the cleanest way for the county to do this is to invoice the village for the additional deputies’ time.

★ Referred to law enforcement concern about a retired county ambulance that was sold at auction but still has the markings of a Taylor County Ambulance on it. It was purchased and converted into a camper and is drawing concern because of the other decals and decorations the current owners have added to it with concern it is degrading to the ambulance service.

★ Received a report from Gellert on the recent storms. Within the past 30 days there were two confirmed tornadoes in the county and storm damage. Gellert called on the board members to inform the town boards to get damage numbers into him for potential reimbursement. He noted that while there wasn’t enough damage for residents to qualify for assistance, municipal governments can get up to 80% reimbursement for clearing debris and other expenses from the storms.