By Deb Gruver
The Wichita Eagle
WICHITA, Kan. — Nationwide drug shortages are affecting Sedgwick County emergency medical personnel who respond to 911 calls.
“We’re not in a crisis yet, but we intermittently teeter on the edge,” Sabina Braithwaite, medical director of Sedgwick County Emergency Medical Service, told county commissioners Tuesday. Patient care has not been affected, officials say, because EMS has found other ways to get the drugs it needs. But the alternatives — mostly getting drugs at compounding pharmacies — have come at a higher cost.
The cost of an ambulance ride is all-inclusive. If drug costs continue to rise because of shortages, the county might have to consider a rate increase, said EMS director Scott Hadley. The last increase was in October 2011. EMS gets weekly updates from its vendors about which drugs are in low supply, Hadley said.
Full story: Sedgwick County EMS warns of national drug shortages