Boyceville EMTs to begin work as instructors

By LeAnn R. Ralph

BOYCEVILLE  —  Now that Boyceville emergency medical technicians are up to date on their certifications, they can begin work as Cardio Pulmonary Resuscitation (CPR) instructors.

Matt Feeney, director of the Boyceville Community Ambulance Service, reported on the EMTs’ progress as instructors at the December 7 meeting of the Boyceville ambulance district board.

The EMTs planned to teach their first class in Eau Claire for the National Guard the following Saturday after the ambulance district meeting, and their next class is scheduled in January, Feeney said.

The Boyceville ambulance service has contracted with Wal-Mart, too, for blood-borne pathogen training, and Cardio Pulmonary Resuscitation (CPR) training may also be a possibility, he said.

The money collected from the class fees will be used to pay the instructors and also will go for equipment replacement costs, Feeney said.

Feeney plans to separate out the money received for the EMTs’ work as instructors and to make a separate list in the financial report he gives to board members during their monthly meeting.

Extrication

During the November ambulance district meeting, board members learned that the Boyceville ambulance service had been called out to a fatal accident on state Highway 64 the morning of November 16 and that finding extrication equipment had been a problem.

Charles Maves, representative for the Town of Sherman, asked about the situation with extrication equipment at the December meeting.

The Boyceville fire department carries the extrication equipment for Boyceville, but the accident on Highway 64 was not in the Boyceville fire district, Feeney said.

The Dallas ambulance service carries extrication equipment for the Prairie Farm fire department, and the accident was in Dallas/Prairie Farm’s service area, he said.

Unfortunately, when Boyceville has been called for assistance from Dallas, the Dallas ambulance service has had about a 75 percent failure rate for responding, Feeney said.

In this case, an ambulance from Barron was called, but that ambulance service also does not have extrication equipment on board, he said.

In the past, it has been established procedure with Dunn County dispatch that if the Boyceville ambulance service is called out, the Boyceville fire department is automatically contacted as mutual aid for the ambulance service, he said.

Dunn County has several new dispatchers, and they were not aware of the situation, Feeney said, adding that he has spoken with Melissa Gilgenbach, director of Dunn County emergency communications, to make sure that the new dispatchers know the protocol.

Danica Smith, 32, of Sarona, was killed in the collision on Highway 64.

At the November meeting, a representative for the ambulance service said Boyceville EMTs had been especially desperate for extrication equipment because they could see a baby seat in the back seat of the car Smith had been driving but did not know if a baby or a toddler had been in the car seat at the time of the collision.

Financials

According to the report Feeney submitted to the ambulance district board, the Boyceville ambulance service had $24,007 on hand as of December 7.

The ambulance service’s payroll was $14,288 from November 16 to December 7.

Invoices that had been paid for the month amounted to $1,341.