Edited Sept. 17 – clarification of Scranton and Grand Junction fire departments
Mental health transfers have increased
The pace has picked up for Greene County Emergency Medical Services, director Dennis Morlan told the county board of supervisors during an update Monday morning.
He reported call volume increased 30 percent during the summer. He said in recent years Greene County EMS has averaged 730 calls per year. The ambulance service is currently averaging 80 calls per month, and if the pace continues, volume will hit 960 calls for the year. “We basically have been running our little back sides off all summer long,” he said.
The biggest reason for the increase, according to Morlan, is mental health transfers. “Mental health in the state of Iowa certainly has interesting predicaments. There is more and more demand for services, and to try to find facilities that can take people can be a lengthy process,” he said. He reported that people have waited at the medical center’s emergency room for as long as four hours while staff looked for a facility that would accept them.
“We’ve been running virtually all over the state of Iowa this summer with mental health transfers,” he said. He has taken mental health patients to Des Moines, Carroll, Ames, Cherokee, Waterloo, Spencer, Council Bluffs, and even Davenport.
He said the Carroll County ambulance, which is entirely county-funded, does no mental health transfers. Greene County EMS has been asked to drive those transfers but hasn’t to date. “We’re busy enough taking care of our own stuff,” he said.
He said the status of the Grand Junction rescue squad has added challenges for Greene County EMS. That squad is no longer able to staff its rig 24/7, with only four persons available and some of them working outside of Grand Junction.
Grand Junction’s transport license requires that they be able to provide service 24/7, so the remedy has been an agreement with Greene County EMS. “When they’re paged, we’re paged, too. If they can get out the door, they do it, but if they can’t, we’ve got to go do it,” Morlan said.
Grand Junction rescue gets about 130 calls per year. “I’m not thrilled with adding 130 calls a year, but per our contract with the county, we have no choice,” Morlan said. Greene County is sometimes sent back after responding, but it still involves staff time. Every time Greene County EMS staff is called out, it costs between $40 and $75, even if Grand Junction ends up able to respond. That money is not recouped when Grand Junction does the transport. Morlan added that when GCEMS needs help moving a patient Grand Junction firemen do so.
The Churdan rescue squad receives about 60 calls a year and tiers with Greene County EMS. Scranton hasn’t had a rescue squad in several years; GCEMS responds to all calls in the Scranton area. Scranton firemen assist with moving patients and handling other issues as needed.
Morlan organized a hybrid EMT class that includes online coursework and clinical work in an attempt to recruit EMTs for the county’s rescue squads. No one from Grand Junction is in the class, although there are three from Churdan, three from Jefferson, two from Dayton and one from Lohrville. Morlan said the class may result in four or five new EMTs.
One of the reasons the Grand Junction rescue squad has a hard time recruiting is that it functions as part of the fire department, and the fire department by-laws require all rescue squad members to also be on the fire department. EMT training is 150 hours, and the firefighter training is 110 hours. “There just aren’t the people willing to make that kind of time commitment anymore,” Morlan said.
Region V: Morlan also updated the supervisors on Region V Local Emergency Planning Committee (LEPC). Region V LEPC was honored at the four state conference in Nebraska City, NE, last month as the best large LEPC in Iowa. The awards were for outstanding achievement in planning, prevention and risk reduction in the region.
He reported that in Greene County there are 33 locations that must report what chemicals are present annually, and 19 locations that are classified as having extremely hazardous materials. Two spills were reported in 2014, although the Region V hazmat team was not needed at either spill.
Region V in 2014 formed a foundation to accept donations for corporations and organizations to be used for equipment replacement. “Hopefully something wonderful will come of that effort,” Morlan said.
