Silver Lake Rescue Squad ambulances leased for use by Twin Lakes Rescue for six months

One of the Silver Lake Rescue Squad ambulances in the 2018 Twin Lakes Memorial Day Parade. /westofthei.com file photo

Silver Lake Rescue Squad may be in the process of dissolving, but its two ambulances are still serving Wheatland and Randall residents.

On Monday, the Wheatland Town Board approved a six-month lease of one of the ambulances. Wheatland will pay Silver Lake Rescue $500 per month. Wheatland will then lease the ambulance to Twin Lakes Rescue, which as of Jan. 1 took over the area of Wheatland and Randall formerly served by Silver Lake Rescue. Wheatland will charge Twin Lakes Rescue the nominal amount of $1.

Randall is expected to take similar action.

The Wheatland leased ambulance is being housed at the Twin Lakes Fire and Rescue station, said Town of Wheatland Fire Department Chief Lou Denko. It is ready to be used as a third ambulance by Twin Lakes Rescue whenever needed. The other SLRS ambulance is housed at Randall Fire Department Station No. 2 in Bassett. That rig is on a back-up status, but could be outfitted for service in a matter of minutes if necessary, Denko said.

The SLRS ambulances “are intact and operational,” Denko said.

The arrangement means though SLRS is no longer answering calls, the area of Kenosha County west of Bristol still has seven ambulances in service, Denko said.

Whether Wheatland, Randall or Twin Lakes will be able to permanently acquire the SLRS ambulances is still undecided, Denko said

Denko told the board the transition to Twin Lakes Rescue covering all of Wheatland has been good.

“Things are going well with the transition of rescue squad services,” Denko said. “It’s going pretty smooth so far.”

Silver Lake Rescue Squad discontinued operations as of Dec. 31 due to new financial realities brought on by changes in how it was being contracted to cover EMS in Silver Lake. The municipal governments of Randall and Wheatland contracted with Twin Lakes Rescue to cover the portions of their towns that were covered by Silver Lake Rescue in the past. In Silver Lake, EMS will now be provided solely by Salem Lakes Fire/Rescue, which had been sending paramedics to medical calls there since the former village of Silver Lake contracted with the then town of Salem for fire protection and EMS services in 2015.

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