WASHINGTON

There’s good news for Washington County’s newest emergency services department.

Despite nonstop demands on its system, the county’s ambulance service “has continued to thrive”, Katrina Altenhofen, interim director, told the supervisors last week in her second quarter report for fiscal 2024.

The now completed move to one software program for patient care needs, billings, claims and scheduling “is going very well,” she noted. Even more, “Threats to the IT system are quickly identified and removed as part of the monthly IT maintenance,” and she reported adding it has helped to ensure all computer systems and software “are running smoothly.”

Although the report noted there were no new hires or resignations in the second quarter (October -December 2023), there were eight personnel changes approved March 5 by the supervisors with several part-time employees moved to full-time. Even more, one EMT is enrolled in a paramedic program and another member is seeking national certification as a billing coder. An aged unit was sold at auction in November and the department is waiting (due to back order) on a replacement.

The supervisors also approved a resolution for the department to apply for a Washington County Riverboat Foundation (WCRF) grant involving funding aid for emergency medical equipment.

Current staffing is three full-time and nine part-time EMTs, one full-time AEMT, nine full-time and eight part-time medics and two billing coder/EMTs.

In terms of calls for the period, 72 percent were for transport, 13 percent for response, but no transport, and 14 percent for “other dispositions.” In numbers there was a total of 691 calls, four of which involved fatalities, with 473 calls for District 1 (Washington based) and 218 for District 2 (Kalona based). In terms of areas there were 42 Riverside; 21 Ainsworth; 6 Richland; 76 Wellman; 71 Kalona; 5 West Chester; 13 Crawfordsville; 7 Wayland; 22 Brighton; 5 Keota; 411 Washington; and 13 other.