Johnson Creek Village Board votes to purchase ambulance for $153,849

By Melissa Lampe for the Daily Times
Tuesday, March 11, 2008 12:53 PM CDT

JOHNSON CREEK - As part of its continuing effort to enhance the quality of the fire/EMS department, the Johnson Creek Village Board on Monday voted unanimously to purchase a new ambulance at a cost of $153,849.

The ambulance purchase comes on the heels of the board's decision last month to acquire a new fire engine and pumper truck to replace the department's existing vehicles that are at least 20 years old and showing heavy signs of wear. Fire/EMS Chief Tim Whitham said all three of the vehicles would arrive in the village this fall.

Johnson Creek village officials have been working to bring the fire department into compliance and to upgrade its failing equipment since 2006 when it took over the operation from the Johnson Creek Community Fire Department Board of Directors. Whitham was hired as the village's first full-time fire/EMS chief in January 2007.

Whitham said the village's ambulance, which is 10 years old, was in need of replacement. He said although it has ongoing maintenance issues of its own, it would be kept as a secondary vehicle to respond to calls if the primary ambulance is already out on a run. “Our ambulance calls have doubled over the past year and in some cases we have received separate 911 calls back to back,” he said. “When that happens we have the staff to cover them but not the vehicles to make the multiple runs in. Also, we have many cases where we need additional ambulances at accident scenes.”

In addition to moving forward with the ambulance purchase, the board also voted to spend $15,272 on a 12-lead ECG cardiac monitor for the fire/EMS department. Whitham said the three vehicles as well as the cardiac monitor were all included in the 2008 budget.

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“The cardiac monitor will allow for better patient care and quicker access to advanced cardiac treatment,” said Assistant EMS Chief Eric Solberg. “This machine would allow us within 60 seconds to establish the cardiac rhythm and then transport the patient to the nearest cardiac catheterization lab.”

Whitham said by using the cardiac monitor a call would go out through a designated cell phone alerting area hospitals of the patient's condition. He said within seconds the ambulance staff would be directed to the trauma center best equipped to deal with the situation. In addition, the emergency room staff would already be receiving the patient's ECG readings through the machine thus eliminating the step of assessing the ECG status once they arrive.

“This eliminates lost time in waiting at one emergency room for transfer to another facility,” Whitham said. “This is something that many smaller communities are looking at getting. There is a big push through UW-Madison to have one of these monitors in every (fire/EMS) agency in the state.”

Whitham said most patients in cardiac arrest are transported to hospitals in Madison, Waukesha, Milwaukee or to Oconomowoc where cardiac catheterization labs are available. “Of the 360 runs in 2007, 44 calls were identifiably cardiac related,” he said. “We had another 30 or 40 more calls for patients who were not diagnosed as cardiac until they reached the hospital. Not everyone presents with the traditional cardiac symptoms and signs.”

At Monday night's meeting the board also voted to approve an ordinance regulating the use of electric vehicles in the village and sent it on to the state for further review, tabled a discussion on firefighter wages, and approved a request from St. John's Lutheran Church to waive fees for the use of Fireman's Park for Fall Fest.