Equipment repairs and possible training for the Mid-Mo Ambulance District was discussed at the board's regular meeting Oct. 10.
Administrator Lee Kempf told the board a field technician for Stryker, a medical technologies firm out of Michigan, was contacted by the district to inspect the power cots that were on hand. A power cot is used to safely transport patients from their home to the ambulance and is utilized on every call. The field technician said this had not been done since the purchase of the cots. Seven of the cots the district currently have need repair. Three of the seven cots have to be taken out of service due to safety issues. Kempf offered a proposal to the board from the technician for all the needed repairs, which totalled $7,217.54.
Stryker, Kempf said, also services a program to train one of Mid-Mo's employees to maintain the cots and help cut costs in the future. No price has been set on the training as of yet. But, if the cost is not too expensive, Kempf expressed interest in sending a member of his staff to Michigan to train for such a service. Kempf said he would still like to have the inspections on the power cots conducted each year and have major repairs done by Stryker. The offer was approved by the board.
The board also was presented information from office manager Brenda West that Midwest Computech had done its annual technology assessment for the Mid-Mo Ambulance District's office. The annual technology assessment showed the district's office network to be "poor," West reported. One major reason for this conclusion was the outdated computers.
This issue was resolved with the recent purchase of computers, installed Oct. 10. Another reason for the poor quality of the network was the cabling of the network system. The original networking was installed 20 years ago. West presented a proposed bid from Midwest Computech to upgrade and correct the network for $2,910.75. West said the supervisor's office was included in the bid but would not need to be upgraded. This may make the price of the bid less than proposed. The board approved the bid.
In other business:
- Kempf said Brian Maclean will assume all responsibilities for district in-service trainings for staff Emergency Medical Technician courses. This responsibility will add $2 per hour to Maclean's hourly wage.
- The run stats for September were: Tipton, 52 calls with 33 transports; California, 92 calls with 57 transports; and Versailles, 202 calls with 123 transports. Total calls district-wide were 346 calls with 213 patients transported for a transport rate on patient contact calls of 73.2 percent.
- The run stats for the 2017-18 fiscal year were: Tipton, 658 calls with 427 transports; California, 1,014 calls with 635 transports; and Versailles, 2,145 calls with 1,464 transports. Total calls for the district were 3,817 with 2,526 transports for a transport rate on patient contact calls of 76.7 percent.