Dateline: February 8, 2007

EMS volunteers address hospital board

The Donley County Hospital Board met in called session Monday night to listen to the concerns of volunteer EMTs regarding the operation of the Associated Ambulance Authority.

The meeting followed the sudden resignation of ambulance director Anita Aaron last week amidst a debate over staffing for the service.

Miscommunication was repeatedly blamed Monday night for differences between the hospital board and the volunteer EMS staff. EMT Heather King said it was an issue for both sides.

“A lot of the problem is misinformation,” she said. “We haven’t gotten the whole story, and neither have y’all. Unless we get the communication problem solved, it will always be a problem.”

Examples of communication problems ranged from whether volunteers are covered by the hospital district’s workers compensation insurance (they are) to when the hospital board meets (every third Tuesday).

Board president Alan Fletcher said he appreciated the volunteers’ service and accepted some of the blame for the communication problems.

“It’s as much my fault as anybody’s,” he said.

During the meeting, EMS members discussed the demands on their time as a volunteer, especially when they are on call. Their only compensation is $10 for a call and $25 for a call where a patient is transported for treatment. But being available for a call means blocking off any other obligation and, in some cases, having a babysitter on standby for children of EMTs.

“You cannot schedule anything else during this time that cannot be interrupted,” EMT Pat Archuleta said.

Volunteers also said the practice of having to sign up for shifts a month at a time is difficult because it is hard to know what they will be doing that far in advance.

Some volunteers who live in the country give up time at home to sleep at the ambulance barn so they can be on call during late shifts, and only two volunteers are able to sign up for the midnight to 8 a.m. shift since most other volunteers work during the day. The shift from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. is also difficult to cover.

Interim ambulance director Anna Howard presented the board with two options, both of which would compensate volunteers $2 per hour for being on call and increase the payments for answering calls.

“Just $550 plus $180 per ambulance will change our certification from “volunteer” to “paid/volunteer” status,” Howard said. “The volunteers would be responsible for updating their certification, but that’s just $64.”

Board members asked how the status change would affect the service when it applied for grants, and Howard said it probably would not hurt the service.

Howard also said the authority could try scheduling on a two-week period rather than a month ahead of time.

Fletcher asked Howard to meet with a committee from the board to put together a proposal for the next regular meeting on February 20.

Also during Monday’s meeting, EMS volunteers thanked the board for its support of the ambulance service, noting that Donley County is fortunate to have equipment, personnel, and experience that are superior to most communities its size. EMT Jennifer Haney said that this is noticed most during times where neighboring counties require mutual aid.

“Clarendon has been the central location for mutual aid,” she said. “We are the mutual aid for this area.”