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Here’s the background: When people call 911 for emergency medical services, the dispatcher gets basic information and sends out an ambulance or whatever level of care is appropriate.
But what La Crosse County’s Public Safety Communication system does not have is the ability to stay on the line with the caller and provide basic medical instruction until the help arrives on the scene.
Tri-State Ambulance, which is owned by Gundersen Lutheran, has offered La Crosse County an Emergency Medical Dispatch capability — the formal name for providing medical information to the caller before the ambulance arrives.
In order to do this, La Crosse County dispatchers would have to transfer the call to dispatchers at Gundersen Lutheran, who would take over from there.
That call transfer would take place after the ambulance was dispatched, but local fire and police chiefs have been opposed to Tri-State’s idea because they believe it would create delays in providing medical care and ambulance services.
The issue, which is set to be discussed today at a meeting of the County Public Safety Communications Governing Board, has been at an impasse — with Tri-State and Gundersen Lutheran offering the service at no expense to the county, and area chiefs insisting that it be provided by county employees.
Now a report written by County Emergency Services Administrator Jay Loeffler may contain the seeds of a middle ground — and a way beyond the impasse between Tri-State and local police and fire chiefs.
Loeffler suggests the possibility of using Tri-State and Gundersen Lutheran employees to provide the service until county employees can be trained and certified to take it over.
In a 13-page report, Loeffler wrote that the ideal situation would be to have the same person who takes the call also be the person to provide the emergency instruction.
But, he noted, there are two problems: The first is cost. To have county employees be able to provide the service Tri-State is proposing will cost taxpayers an estimated $100,000, with annual costs of about $5,000 a year after that. The second problem is time. It likely will take months to train county staff members to provide the service.
Loeffler believes that the ideal situation is to have the county provide the service.
“It would be more appropriate that the first person to answer the call be in a position to provide the EMD service,” Loeffler wrote. “Time is of the essence in dealing with any emergency, so transferring or conferencing the caller during a medical emergency to a different location can add valuable seconds to getting help to the patient. Much of the information obtained would need to be verified by the second dispatcher. This may be perceived by the caller as a delay in obtaining help.”
But the county needs time to get up to speed on EMD. Meanwhile, valuable assistance — including instructions about cardiopulmonary resuscitation and other life-saving techniques — would not be provided to people who call in emergencies.
In his report, Loeffler proposed having Tri-State and Gundersen Lutheran provide the service on an interim basis until La Crosse County can institute its own system.
Consider this point made by Loeffler: “It would not be accurate for us to say there is nothing more we can do until public safety responders arrive when life-saving, pre-arrival instructions are available with a transfer of a phone call.”
That makes sense. Let’s get past the turf battles and provide an EMD service sooner rather than later.
