Private emergency medical services provider Ambulnz by DocGo gave a presentation on its services and answered questions from board members at a joint Randall and Wheatland town boards meeting Tuesday at Wheatland Town Hall in New Munster..
Ambulnz by DocGo is being considered by the towns for providing EMS staring in 2025. The towns currently contract with Twin Lakes Rescue for that service.
Last summer, Randall, Twin Lakes and Wheatland and TLR began exploring how to fund 24/7 station coverage for EMS out of the Twin Lakes station. There were some joint meetings and a $900,000 to $1 million cost estimated. Eventually a cost of $900,000 divided with Twin Lakes paying 50 percent and the towns each paying 25 percent was established. The plan then was for each municipality to hold a referendum in April to approve the needed funding.
That timeline broke down over ironing out some details about who the new EMTs would work for and other details. The referendum target was switched to August.
More recently, TLR submitted contracts to Randall and Wheatland with an approval deadline for April 15. The deadline was driven, Twin Lakes Fire Department and Rescue Squad Chief Ron Redlin said, by the timeline for an August referendum.
Both towns also had begun seeking other possibilities, such as private companies, for EMS service.
Twin Lakes Rescue gave a presentation to both board on April 29 to try to renew negotiations with Randall and Wheatland.
Tuesday brought another sizable audience to Wheatland Town Hall. Fifteen citizens spoke at the outset. Most were opposed to switching to a private company.
In the Ambulnz by DocGo presentation, Wisconsin operations director Courtney Davis pushed back against the idea his company only did interfacility transports, not 911 service. The company has a facility in Pleasant Prairie, that focuses largely on interfacility transports. That’s because southeast Wisconsin is largely organized by fire department run EMS, Davis said. An Ambulnz by DocGo sister company does provide 911 service in Lake Mills.
“This is not just an interfacility company,” Davis said.
In Randall and Wheatland, Ambulnz by DocGo is proposing housing an EMT staffed ambulance in Wheatland and another in Randall. Stationed here also would be a paramedic in a chase vehicle that would go to medical calls and assess patients and ride with the transport to a hospital when needed. The ambulances would be a type 3, similar to the structure of what the fire department based squads use.
Cost for the service would be $430,000 per year shared by the two towns, Davis said.
Twin Lakes Rescue is proposing a cost of $450,000 shared by the two towns. TLR is an EMT advanced department, which calls for paramedics as mutual aid as needed.
Board members only were allowed to ask questions after the presentation. Additional detail about Ambulnz by DocGo’s proposal revealed during those questions and answers includes:
- If the local ambulances are stored outside, they will be equipped with a warming unit so that medication inside is not affected by cold and the unit is ready for transportation sooner, Davis said. Ambulnz by DocGo staff will also be expected to keep the ambulance clear of snow. “That vehicle will need to be ready … and not covered in snow,” Davis said.
- Davis said staff will be expected to learn local roads, but added that some current employees also work for Bristol Fire and Rescue and Salem Lakes Fire/Rescue.
- Ambulnz by DocGo staff will not be firefighters. In some cases they may have to wait until fire department personnel arrive to help free a patient that is trapped, Davis said. “We are trained that if a patient is entrapped and you can’t get to them you have to wait until extrication equipment gets there,” Davis said. “We are not going to put ourselves in a situation where we put ourselves in direct harm. We want to work with the local fire departments to understand what they want us to do in those particular situations.”
- Davis explained that Ambulnz by DocGo’s status as a national company helps provide the cost it is offering Randall and Wheatland. It has other revenue sources (like interfacility transport), Davis said and it projects to collect about $500,000 in billing of residents of services in a year. The company also sees performing 911 EMS in Wheatland and Randall as a way to establish additional business opportunities in neighboring communities, chiefly for interfacilty transfer, Davis said.
- A mechanical CPR device will be housed in each of the local ambulances, Davis said. Some other equipment such as a cardiac monitor and advanced medications will travel with the paramedic.
The meeting heated up briefly toward the end after Randall Town Supervisor George Bailitz lamented the negativity some in the community are showing toward Ambulnz by DocGo, saying a lot of the negativity is coming from fire department members. Some of the fire department personnel in the audience angrily pushed back, calling Bailitz’s comment an insult to them sharing opinions based on decades of experience.
Redlin, speaking from the audience, also criticized printed information distributed at the meeting with questions and answers about the issue. Redlin charged that it contained lies about his department.
On Monday, the Wheatland Town Board approved holding a referendum to exceed the state imposed tax levy limit for about $150,000 per year for five years to pay for EMS, whoever the provider turns out to be.
Among those speaking during public comments at the beginning of the meeting were two visitors from Salem Lakes: village administrator Cassandra Hiller and Salem Lakes Fire/Rescue interim Chief Alan Carr.
Hiller said her village presented a proposal to cover the towns for EMS as well. She asked board members to be cognizant not only of the effect on their communities but also the region’s EMS service.
Carr, a retired Kenosha Fire Department officer, asked the board to consider whether a private EMS provider is in fact a downgrade from what is now provided by TLR.
“Are we (SLF/R) protecting you because you can’t protect yourself?” Carr asked “We are concerned you are downgrading your service you have with Twin Lakes.”
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