Well a few months ago was a little unusual, or so I thought. But before I begin our day of wonderment, let me begin by thanking all of the Emergency Medical Technicians and Emergency Medical Responder's out there, who do the best they can, provide compassion, assistance, and hospital transport to the folks who live in the Town of St. Germain WI.

Here we go..........

When leaving my parking space at the St. Germain Pharmacy this morning, November 21st, at 11:22 AM, to be precise, I heard a siren blaring and coming in my direction. I was expecting to see a fire truck or an ambulance go by. But to my surprise, I did not see that. What I saw was a St. Germain Fire Rescue truck. Not what I expected, but not that unusual either.

The unusual part was that, they made a left hand turn, entered, and parked at the MB bank. Someone needed help, I thought to myself.

Quickly, I saw the firemen (all EMTs I assumed, but found out later they were EMRs, a lower level of medical care) quickly exited their vehicle, grabbed their gear and entered the bank. I sat there for a few minutes, expecting to see the Plum Lake ambulance to soon follow and be there. But it was not coming. (Found out later that there are only two "on call" people at the Plum Lake ambulance, who have to come from wherever they are to the barn and pick up the ambulance. Because of the slick roads, this took extra time to get to the barn and then to the scene.)

We did not want to gawk so we proceeded on our way to the 3C Coffee Cafe for lunch.  Thinking my curiosity was over, the waitress came and took our order. Where we were seated, we could see out the window and look over at the bank, should we want too. (found out later that there was a pedestrian who was hit by a car in the parking lot and were inside the bank because it was warmer) However, we continued on with our meal, it was delivered to our table and we proceeded to eat. As my wife glanced out the window a second time she said. "Oh, the ambulance is there now". I looked at my watch and it was 11:39 AM. (Found out later that the simple method of putting the patient on the gurney was exacerbated by the fact that the gurney would not collapse due to a malfunction and that had to be repaired first to put the patient back into the ambulance.)

This is seventeen minutes AFTER the St. Germain FD had arrived. Who knows what time the actual call for help came in? The point here, is that for years the people of St. Germain have relied on the Plum Lake Ambulance to provide quick and quality service. Their staff are also EMTs. (Found out later that Plum Lake ambulance only has two EMTs on staff, a husband and wife team to cover their service.)What does that mean to the patient? It means that because emergency calls are only answered by Emergency Medical Responder's, EMRs, and Emergency Medical Technicians EMTs, they cannot deliver any pain killing medications or other drugs to a patient. All they can do is stabilize the patient and transport them.

The ambulance personnel put the patient on a gurney, and placed them into the back of the ambulance. They sat there for another five minutes or so. Then they left with patient in tow.

Now from this point two things could happen. If the patient needed those drugs, they would call to the hospital who would dispatch paramedics to a meeting point, meet the ambulance and deliver the drugs. OR, if the patient did not need the drugs the ambulance would transport to the hospital. Where the patient would be entered into the ER and treated.

In an ambulance with lights lit and siren blazing, it would take another 20 minutes to get there. So now the patient is waiting about 45 minutes from the initial call to the ER. This is a totally unacceptable level of care.

According to published numbers, 85% or more of the calls for emergency care that get handled by Plum Lake ambulance service are for the Town of St. Germain. However, rumor has it that the town of Plum Lake is going to try to charge the Town of St. Germain a $100.00 service fee for answering St. Germain calls. I doubt if any insurance company is going to absorb that additional cost, and it will be passed onto the already overburdened taxpayer.

Fire department personnel are going through extensive training. There are those who are currently rated as Emergency Medical Responder's (EMRs) being trained to become Emergency Medical Technicians (EMTs).  The New St. Germain Ambulance is in the barn as we speak, and a contract between the Town of St. Germain and Plum lake is still pending.  It was stated at a recent town board meeting on January 9th, that St. Germain Ambulance Service would start sometime in June, July or before. 

It's time for the Town of St. Germain and the Town Board to put the question of Ambulance service delivery on a fast track agenda, which they now have. The Town of St. Germain having an Ambulance Service should be the number one priority, which it now is. Never mind the community center "project", which I will address in another publication.

Let's get all of our resources working together. We are very close to getting us out from under the thumb of the Town of Plum Lake, and the Town is moving as quickly as possible, which is finally a good thing. thanks to the leadership of Fire Chief Tim Gebhardt. It's about time, as lives are at stake!!!!