Wis. Council Approves New Fire, EMS Contract to Bolster Staff

Dec. 20--ELKHORN -- The Elkhorn City Council on Monday approved a new fire and emergency medical services contract budgeted at $506,000 to bolster the city's emergency response staff.

The contract amount includes $306,000 for services that were not previously in the city's existing contract with Paratech, a private ambulance service, City Administrator Sam Tapson said.

The $306,000 will come from the city's general fund and EMS fund.

Firefighters were not previously part of the city's contract. Tapson said they will be now because Paratech staffers will function as "dual purpose" firefighters and emergency medical technicians.

The new paid-on-premise staff will reduce response times, Fire Chief Rod Smith said. The paid-on-call staffers the fire department currently uses often work other jobs during the day, and response times suffer during peak hours when they have to travel to a location, he said.

For EMS staff, the department currently has one person on 24/7 and one other 40-hour employee, Smith said. They and the paid-on-call fire staff will remain, he said.

"We're still going to rely heavily on our paid-on-calls," Smith said. "They are the backbone of our department, and we still need them and use them."

Under the contract, five firefighter-EMTs will have staggered shifts, each working 40 hours a week. That means a minimum of two people will work 24/7, Smith said.

During peak call times between 8 a.m. and 6 p.m., when current staffers are at their jobs, Smith expects the department to have three or four people staffed.

Weekends also will be completely covered, Smith said.

Tapson said the city will maintain its own vehicles and equipment, contracting with Paratech for personnel only.

The city has used Paratech and Medix in the past to offer levels of emergency care the city could not provide, such as paramedic-level service, he said.

He said a combination of financial flexibility and the council's desire to address the staffing issue led to the new contract.

"The makeup of the council changed a bit," Tapson said. "(They) put a greater emphasis on the life safety issue here that's at hand and commit to supporting that."

The contract will be effective Jan. 1. The department will have to go through the hiring process, however, so Smith said he does not expect to have the new firefighter-EMTs on staff until springtime.

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