Ambulances and Christmas dinner

The South Central Wyoming Emergency Medical Service (SCWEMS) Joint Powers Board (JPB) met for their regular monthly meeting on Nov. 11 in Saratoga. The bulk of the meeting was taken up with discussion of which ambulances should be taken out of service and where new ambulances should be stationed.

Ambulance Service Manager Heidi Sifford expressed her opinion that SCWEMS ambulance inventory is too large and is costing the service money that they do not need to expend. An effort to sell some of the vehicles that are out of service has proven unfruitful and the ambulance may need to be sold for parts or given away. The JPB agreed that Sifford should get rid of the ambulances as quickly as possible rather than continue to pay for insurance and maintenance rather than wait for a buyer willing to pay a higher price.

Sifford also offered the opinion that new ambulances should be put in service at stations which handle the most calls. She cited the need to take full advantage of warranties. Even the busiest ambulance station does not put enough miles on an ambulance in a year to exceed mileage limitation before time limitations of a warranty according to Sifford. A general agreement was reached on which ambulances to remove from service and that a focus on moving to an all four-wheel drive fleet is desirable. No consensus was reached as to where new ambulances should be stationed.

With one board member abstaining, the JPB approved the expenditure of $20 per person with an additional $20 per spouse for Christmas dinner for SCWEMS volunteers and employees.

Medicine Bow JPB representative Stephanie Colman reported that the town of Medicine Bow had not received a revised amendment to the SCWEMS Joint Powers agreement since Medicine Bow had rejected the amendment at their town council meeting on Oct. 12. Medicine Bow is asking for revisions to be made by the Carbon County attorney.

In her director’s report Sifford stated that the SCWEMS business license has been renewed and a paramedic license for the service has been reinstated. “… Not that we are going to be running as a paramedic status, but this at least gives us the opportunity to advance to that in the future if we do get more paramedics on our service,” Sifford said.

In the final act of business at the JPB meeting, Christopher Ferraro was approved as a new driver for the Elk Mountain station, pending a background check.

The next meeting of the SCWEMS JPB will be held at 6:30 p.m. Dec. 9 at the Elk Mountain station.