Pulaski County EMS Looking to Buy Stretcher, Anticipating Budget Surplus

Local EMS departments are working to update their equipment. Pulaski County EMS Director Brandon DeLorenzo told the county commissioners last week that he’s working on getting a grant for a new stretcher. “Those stretchers are not cheap,” he said. “The last one we got was a power stretcher, and those are about $18,000.”

DeLorenzo said he may ask for the commissioners’ help, if grant funding falls through. This comes as Starke County EMS is looking to replace three of its ambulance cots.

DeLorenzo also told the commissioners last week that he expects to have about a quarter of a million dollars left unspent in his budget at the end of the year. “That does not include what doesn’t get used from the building fund,” he added. “I think there’s going to be some left over there, too. We’ve been pinching pennies.”

County council members have since directed DeLorenzo to pay for the Winamac ambulance garage expansion by encumbering this year’s remaining money, rather than using the 2020 budget.