Pulaski County EMS Still Working to Resolve Ambulance, Staffing Issues

After months of discussions, one of Pulaski County’s ambulances will be repaired, but now another one is out of service. That’s what EMS Director Bryan Corn told the county commissioners last week. He said the ambulance that was heavily damaged in an accident on Christmas Eve was in Iowa being repaired by its original builder. “The insurance company finally gave that the go-ahead for them to fix that,” Corn said. “That truck hopefully, according to Iowa, will be back to us sometime next week.”

Before it can go back into service, though, Corn said it will have to be re-certified by Indiana Department of Homeland Security. He’s also looking to replace that ambulance’s stretcher, at the recommendation of its manufacturer. He’s working to figure out what it’s worth and file an insurance claim.

But now, he says one of the county’s other ambulances is having issues. “We’ve got one that we’ve had several problems with the rear end,” Corn explained. “It’s been into the repair shop, I think, two or three times. Every time we get it and we bring it back, there’s always something different. They fixed it once; we literally drove it back to Francesville, so 20 miles on it. And then they were in the process of coming over the next day, and we had another issue with the rear end. We had to have it towed off the highway back to them.”

Additionally, Corn reported that the department denied 12 transfer requests from Pulaski Memorial Hospital during the month of March, due to a shortage of paramedics. “I am working on it,” he told the commissioners. “I’ve got one guy who’s going to come and start doing orientation in May. He’s coming on as a paramedic full-time. I’m going to get interviews in with at least two more medics. I think one is interested in part-time, but I’ll take it. And then there’s another one who is also interested in full-time.”

Pulaski County EMS has decided not to take transfers when there’s only one paramedic on duty.