Archer, Iowa — A large crowd was on hand Tuesday night as the Archer City Councl met to, among other things, discuss the future of their community ambulance squad in the wake of the resignations of three of the ambulance team’s members, including the Director.
O’Brien County Emergency Management Coordinator Jerad Johnson tells KIWA that the Archer Council elected to, for the time being, have ambulance calls in their community handled through the Back-Up Subdivision Plan that has been in force since January, 2011. Johnson says the plan will have ambulances from Sheldon, Primghar, and Sanborn answering calls in the Archer ambulance district.
Johnson says there were Archer community members who expressed interest in serving on the Archer Ambulance Team. Johnson says he plans to meet with these individuals, and let them know what all is involved, including training requirements, in becoming certified to volunteer with the ambulance squad.
Johnson told KIWA that at least one EMT, or Emergency Medical Technician, is required on every ambulance call. He said there is, however, another training level called EMR, or Emergency Medical Responder, that requires less training than the EMT. He said if some people want to pursue their EMR certification, they can begin volunteering for the Archer squad once that training is complete, and then continue on for the extra training needed to become certified as an EMT.
Since the Director of Archer’s ambulance team was one of the three to resign, the Archer City Council appointed Kevin Miller, of Sheldon, to serve as interim Archer Ambulance Team Director. Johnson says Miller will be taking care of the required paperwork for the Archer service. Miller is also the Director of the Sheldon Community Ambulance Team, and will, next week, begin his duties as EMS Coordinator at NCC.
**********************************************************
Original post – 12:08pm 6/8/2018
Archer, Iowa — City officials in Archer have some decisions to make after three members of their ambulance team turned in resignations.
O’Brien County Emergency Management Coordinator Jerad Johnson says the three EMT’s who resigned are a woman who is moving out of the Archer community to a home she and her husband purchased in Primghar, and a married couple who are retiring.
Johnson says the resignations leave the Archer Ambulance team with just one EMT, a nurse who sometimes takes calls with the ambulance, as well as four drivers.
At least for the short-term, Johnson says that he has spoken to the ambulance team directors in Sheldon, Sanborn, and Primghar about covering any calls in the Archer ambulance area. According to Johnson, all three said they didn’t see any problems with taking the additional calls. He says there has been a County Contingency Plan in effect for several years, and that plan has now been put into place.
KIWA talked to SCAT Director Kevin Miller, who said he’s confident that SCAT’s ambulances and crews will remain able to effectively cover the needs of the Sheldon community, while responding to some of Archer’s calls.
Johnson says he’ll be meeting with the Archer City Council to discuss the city’s options. He says Archer officials will need to decide whether to: try and maintain their ambulance service; become a First Responder unit that would respond to calls and begin on-site treatment until an ambulance from Sheldon, Primghar or Sanborn could arrive to transport the patient to the hospital; or disband the ambulance service, and divide the Archer Ambulance territory among the ambulance services from Sheldon, Sanborn and Primghar.
Johnson’s meeting with the Archer City Council will be held Tuesday evening (June 12th) at a 7:00 pm council meeting.
