I’ve lost track over my years here as editor on how many articles I’ve written on the ongoing issues with the Fennimore Area EMS. But even with staffing and funding issues, etc., they are still up and going, but for how long is up in the air.
The EMS held an informative meeting a few weeks back, and while they were hoping for a packed house at the EMS station, the audience was mostly made up of current squad members, area EMS squads (Boscobel and Lancaster, for example), members of the Fennimore Fire Department, township and city officials, a few citizens, and unfortunately, many empty chairs.
One can hope that the lack of attendance did not reflect a lack of concern on the Fennimore EMS’ current status, which can best be described as “hanging in there.”
Staffing of course remains the main issue, with the squad resorting to using their own funds to hire two current volunteers as part-time paid positions, which account for 224 hours of the 1,344 monthly hours needed to have a 24/7 crew, that leaves 1,120 hours needed from the nine current volunteers the squad currently has on its roster, or 35 hours a week.
The key phrase there, own funds, as Fennimore’s EMS and many in the surrounding areas are self-funded through donations, fund raisers, and grants. No local tax money goes to support their cause, a common misconception.
Funds could have been used for updated training, equipment upgrade/replacement, and general maintenance.
Calls have increased steadily since 2017, while volunteer availability has decreased, which doesn’t add up.
Should the math keep mathing in this direction and Fennimore’s squad has to dissolve, townships and the city are required to have some sort of rescue squad service.
So instead of contracting out another squad, it would make much more sense to keep the current one intact.
As discussed during last month’s EMS informative meeting, an “out of town crew” response could add 45 minutes from arrival to transport to the hospital, where as if Fennimore responds, total time can be as little as five to 10 minutes.
On top of that, a paid service would have on average six full-time employees averaging $100,000 a year each with wages and total benefits.
In addition to the added costs, small, rural towns such as Fennimore and surrounding areas such as Mt. Ida, Liberty, Hickory Grove, Town of Mt. Hope, North Lancaster, Castle Rock, Little Grant, and Marion may have problems even contracting a crew due to their lower call volumes.
I didn’t major in math, nor is it my strong suit, but strengthening and assisting in finding staff for Fennimore’s current squad sure makes much more logistical sense than basically paying more money to start anew.
Discussions between Fennimore’s EMS and the city have been here and there, although discussions resumed at last month’s council meeting.
Those of you who value having a localized EMS service (which I hope is a majority of you readers) may look to contact your alderpersons and stress how much keeping a local squad is a benefit to Fennimore and its surrounding townships.
Community voices can also be heard by submitting “letters to the editor” which can be sent to the Fennimore Times at editor@fennimoretimes.net.
If you weren’t available last month to make your voice heard during the EMS meeting, do it now.
Or if this has maybe persuaded you into looking into being a volunteer on the Fennimore EMS, e-mail Fennimore EMS Chief Brian at chief@fennimoreems.org.
Close and local can mean life or death in the event of an emergency. Fennimore wouldn’t think to go without local police or fire, let’s do the same with our EMS squad. Their issue is Fennimore’s issue.
