Advanced Life Support service for Starke County may be only a few weeks away. That was the message the Starke County Commissioners heard last week from EMS Director Paul Mathewson.
“We found out that the application itself got accepted by the State for us to go ahead and move forward in becoming ALS certified,” said Mathewson.
Mathewson said he’s waiting on the state to come down and inspect the rigs and equipment before he can move ahead.
“We’re getting in equipment to stock the ambulance itself with all of the necessary equipment to run an ALS rig. We’re in the process of hiring on new paramedics to upgrade our service so that when the State is able to come down, we’re ready to go.”
Mathewson was asked to give us a target date for beginning ALS service.
“The first part of February is not a far off estimate if I’d have to give a date right now. I think that’s sort of what we’re working toward.”
Starke County now has only Basic Life Support service. Mathewson has been working closely with IU Health Starke Hospital to bring the ambulance service up to ALS status. At a meeting in November, the local EMS promised the hospital administrators that they would be up and running before April 1st.
