Ambulance Service in need of on-call help

     Monticello Ambulance Administrator Britt Smith released the service activity for the Monticello Ambulance Service for the month of July.

     Total EMS calls for service: 65 (35 to City of Monticello addresses, 11 to Monticello Nursing and Rehabilitation Center, 10 to Jones County addresses within the Monticello service area, 1 Jones Regional Medical Center transfers, and 8 to Anamosa city addresses due to the Anamosa Ambulance Service being unavailable to respond)

     There were also 11 total transports from the Jones County Fairgrounds during the week of the fair.

     Smith is working on a grant through Theisen’s More Fore Your Community for EMS equipment. He’s seeking financial assistance with the purchase of new radios, similar to the grant application he filed last year for radios for the police department.

     In terms of personnel, over the past couple of months, the Ambulance Service lost a few members from the on-call service roster. Smith indicated this might be due to the “commitments necessary to remain current on our practices.” They did recruit three new members who began orientation classes in August.

     “Covering the weekend shifts with our on-call service members is getting more difficult,” reported Smith, “given the large number of summer activities that everyone participates in. I have been forced to pull some of our full-time EMT crewmembers to cover weekend shifts by adjusting their schedules. This leaves some weekday shifts open, which I routinely cover to avoid paying additional part-time or overtime to other personnel until we can get some new service members training and filling shifts.”