BV ambulance services hires 2 EMTs and a paramedic
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By LeAnn R. Ralph
BOYCEVILLE — The Boyceville ambulance service has hired two Emergency Medical Technicians and a paramedic, which brings the roster up to 12.
Wayne Dow, director of the ambulance service, reported on the new hires at the Boyceville Community Ambulance District Board’s May 12 meeting.
Dow said he planned to interview another candidate next week and that an additional EMT has indicated interest in applying in June.
Chippewa Valley Technical College in Eau Claire (CVTC) and Wisconsin Indianhead Technical College in New Richmond (WITC) will both soon be graduating classes of EMTs. There are 40 students in the WITC class, Dow said.
The Boyceville ambulance service is hiring as many EMTs as quickly as possible to replace the 15 EMTs who resigned just prior to Dow starting as the ambulance service director in April.
To fill in when Boyceville does not have enough EMTs on duty, service coverage agreements have been executed with the ambulance services in Colfax, Menomonie, Dallas and Glenwood City.
Advertisements seeking EMTs have been published in the Eau Claire Leader and on the Wisconsin EMS Association’s website, Dow said.
Employment ads also will be published in the Glenwood City Tribune Press Reporter and the Colfax Messenger, he said.
So far this year, the Boyceville ambulance service has gone out on 62 runs, Dow reported.
Over the past month, Boyceville has gone out on 15 calls. Boyceville has transported seven of the patients, while Menomonie transported three and Colfax transported one. The remainder of the calls were stand-bys or the ambulance was cancelled while in route, he said.
According to the service agreements with Menomonie and Colfax, each time one of them responds to transport a patient, the Boyceville ambulance service will be invoiced for $500. Menomonie and Colfax will bill the patients.
The current protocol is that if there are not enough EMTs on duty at the ambulance station in Boyceville to take the ambulance on a call, the EMT will respond as a first responder to render first aid, and the services with which Boyceville has agreements will be asked if they can respond.
Audit
Paul Heifner, representative for the Town of Sherman, asked about the audit the ambulance board had ordered so Dow would have a “clean slate” when he took over as director.
Valerie Windsor, clerk-treasurer, said she had provided all of the information to the auditor but that the audit was not yet complete.
Vice-chair
One of the agenda items for the ambulance board was to elect a vice-chair.
Marv Prestrud, representative for the Town of New Haven, was the only nomination.
Prestrud accepted the nomination and was subsequently approved as vice-chair of the ambulance district board.
The Boyceville Community Ambulance District Board includes the Towns of Hay River, Sherman, Stanton, New Haven, Tiffany and Sheridan, along with the Village of Boyceville.
Committee
The Boyceville ambulance board has appointed a committee to review and update the district’s bylaws.
Steve Boyd, representative for the Town of Tiffany, had introduced the subject at the last meeting that the bylaws should be updated.
The committee can meet over the next month, make recommendations for changes to the bylaws at the June meeting, then the updated bylaws can be taken to the town boards and village board for review and approval before coming back to the ambulance district board, said Pete Score, representative for the Town of Sheridan and chair of the ambulance district board.
Although Boyd was unable to attend the May 12 meeting, he has indicated he would be willing to serve on the committee, Score said.
All together, four people volunteered to be on the bylaws committee, so the board voted for three candidates by ballot.
Those who volunteered included Boyd, Score, Heifner and Luke Montgomery, Boyceville village president.
Boyd, Montgomery and Score were selected to serve on the bylaws committee.
Gratitude
Score said he had placed “gratitude” on the agenda in order to express appreciation.
Gilbert Krueger previously served as chair of the ambulance district board for eight years, since 2012, and “that’s no small thing,” Score said.
Score also expressed gratitude for the EMTs on the Boyceville ambulance service, going back to 1974 when the service was first started, and gratitude for those who continue to serve the community.
“If there was a little more gratitude in the world, it would be a better place,” he said.
The Boyceville Community Ambulance District Board meets next on June 16 at 7 p.m. at the Boyceville fire station following the Boyceville fire board meeting.
Closed session
The ambulance district board met in closed session under Wisconsin statute 19.85 (1)(c).
The Tribune Press Reporter contacted Score the next day to ask if there was anything he could report from the closed session.
The ambulance district board approved a motion to set the ambulance service director’s salary at $18,000 annually, Score said.
The director’s salary will be on the agenda at the June meeting for a budget adjustment, he said.
