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DJWH To Reconsider Staffing For Overnight Ambulance Crews

The Dr. John Warner Hospital will reconsider their staffing on the ambulance crew overnight.

In December of last year, the hospital made the decision to go to one overnight crew to cut back on cost, based on statistics that showed the call volume allowed for one ambulance crew overnight. CEO of the Dr. John Warner Hospital, Earl Sheehy explains the hospital does put additional crews on when there are events happening in the community, such as the Apple and Pork Festival, that would increase the likelihood of additional calls.

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Ambulance Manager Terrance Hubbard feels the logic behind the initial change was solid, and that still holds true. He says problems comes both during the day and at night where there is not always coverage.

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Concerns have been expressed about the overnight situation of the ambulance handling longer non-emergency transfers. The problem is not the calls becoming overwhelming to the crews on hand either during the day or at night, but Hubbard feels the plan should simply be re-evaluated.

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Reconsidering staffing runs into a several problems. First, the hospital would have to approach the Ambulance union to approve adding more positions. The second issue becomes hiring local EMTs who know the area, Hubbard feels that would be a challenge. So they would then have to hire outside EMTs, who could be unfamiliar with the area. Which then maybe runs into the biggest obstacle this faces, of training these new EMTs, familiarizing them with the area, and then in December, they will receive a notice they will be laid off because the hospital will no longer be providing ambulance service.

These EMTs could be picked up by the organization or company that is brought in by the county to provide ambulance services to the county, however, the hospital cannot guarantee that happening.

The DJWH Board of Directors would have to approve bringing on an additional crew for the overnight hours.

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