PC: Fox 11 Online
WINNEBAGO COUNTY, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) — If you live in one of these towns, you’ll soon have a new ambulance service:
Black Wolf
Nekimi
City of Omro
Town of Omro
Poygan
Rushford
Utica
Town of Winneconne
Village of Winneconne
The Oshkosh Fire Department is short-staffed and said they needed to raise the price for their services, but the municipalities allege that price change came without consulting the communities. For some communities, it’s a tenfold increase.
“We did end up forming an ambulance district, because we had no other alternative,” said Black Wolf Town Chairman Frank Frassetto, who also serves as chair of the Ambulance District Committee.
Black Wolf already decided to enter into an agreement with the eight other communities. On Monday night, the community decided the move will happen for next year.
Several members from the Van Dyne Fire Department, the department that serves Black Wolf, voiced displeasure.
“They have multiple units that can be out here if one ambulance is busy. Multiple ambulances, up to six or seven, can be out here in a short period of time,” said Chief Michael Becker of the Van Dyne Fire Department. “With this new formation, there’s going to be one ambulance in this area, and another is gonna be out in the Omro area. So if there’s a need for another ambulance in the area, it’s going to come from quite a distance.”
That’s the main concern — a first ambulance may have a quicker response time than they have currently, since it would likely be housed in or near Black Wolf. But a second may be up to 30 minutes, since it would likely come from Omro.
Also, Oshkosh sends two paramedics on each ambulance, while Lifestar, the new provider, would send one, which complies with state requirements.
“I’m looking at it as these folks are professionals, and they’ve been trained and they’ve been certified,” said Frassetto. “And we have control over decision-making, we being the district.”
Lifestar already serves residents in Waupun and Columbus, plus a few cities north of Milwaukee and now these nine Winnebago County communities.
The new service will cost about $40 per person. Oshkosh did not give an official amount, but Black Wolf said it would have exceeded that amount.
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