By Joe Duggan
The Lincoln Journal Star
PLATTSMOUTH, Neb. — Plattsmouth city leaders must soon decide whether to continue using a private ambulance service or resume their volunteer rescue squad.
The city of about 7,000 residents in eastern Cass County has been using an Omaha emergency service since August, when a lack of volunteers forced the Plattsmouth Volunteer Rescue Squad to suspend operations.
Although the squad’s captain feels confident it can soon return to service, doing so could mean a return to longer response times.
The situation typifies a trend in small towns, which have seen declining numbers of volunteers willing or able to staff ambulances.
The problem is usually worse during the day, when many residents commute to surrounding cities for work.
That’s one issue in Plattsmouth, where none of the squad’s 10 emergency medical technicians or three paramedics works in town, said Mike Wood, who recently became the squad captain. The city and surrounding area generate up to 10 ambulance calls per day, he added.
“What we have to have is large numbers of people in the community who want to step up and help out,” Wood said Tuesday. “It comes down to whether you ... care about the people in your community. It’s crunch time.”
Before the squad voluntarily shut down in August, it would often rely on mutual aid from rescue squads in Murray or Bellevue. Response times could take as long as 40 minutes.
“That’s dangerous,” said Plattsmouth City Administrator Ervin Portis.
The 90-day contract with American Medical Response expires this month. The company has not charged for the services until now, taking ambulance billing as payment.
The City Council must decide whether to extend the contract temporarily or consider a long term arrangement, Portis said.
"(The rescue squad) needs to present a plan that will have vol- unteers available all hours of the day,” he said.
The Plattsmouth squad is also facing a failed state inspection. The state Department of Health and Human Services last week released a report that said the squad failed 13 of 17 categories.
Most of the deficiencies involved inadequate record keeping on ambulance units or a lack of training documentation or written policies endorsed by a physician medical director.
So far, the state has taken no action against the squad’s license, meaning it could continue to operate, said Diane Hansmeyer, a licensing administrator for Health and Human Services. But if squad leaders fail to address the problems, disciplinary action could result.
Five ambulance squads in Nebraska have been disciplined by the state in the last year, Hansmeyer said.
A reinspection of the Plattsmouth squad will take place after Nov. 22. Wood said it has already complied with “95 percent” of the deficiencies. The squad recently obtained a new medical director to help with oversight.
It also is trying to address staffing issues. Four EMT candidates are undergoing training, which involves a minimum of 160 hours of classroom work and 12 hours of field time. In other words, none of the candidates will be available soon.
He said he’s hopeful the issue will prompt others to volunteer, especially those who stay in town during the day.
In the meantime, the volunteer squad could return to service with the help of mutual aid if the City Council gives the go-ahead.
“We’re ready,” Wood said. “We’ve got some great people down here who want to keep making calls.”
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