Pulaski County EMS is no longer taking hospital transfers to Fort Wayne or Indianapolis. The county commissioners voted last week to reduce the transfer radius from 100 miles to 65.
EMS Director Brandon DeLorenzo recommended the change, as a way to make the ambulances last longer in the county’s current financial situation. “There’s other services that are out there,” DeLorenzo told the commissioners. “I mean, with our staffing situation and we had a lot of trucks down for maintenance and we were unable to take them, so they’ve had other services that actually have trucks dedicated for transfers to take them.”
But the reduction has apparently drawn concern from some of the county’s medical professionals. During Monday’s county council meeting, Council Member Rudy DeSabatine said doctors are worried that the new radius leaves out the Level 1 trauma centers, and they don’t think that private ambulance services are as dependable.
But DeLorenzo admitted that the county’s service hasn’t been dependable for transfers either, recently. “Our primary function’s 911, and I am barely able to cover that,” he told council members. “I mean, I’m looking at next month’s schedule, and I’ve only got one truck covering the whole county for six, eight days. And then, I’ve got another six or eight days on top of that where I only have one person on a truck, and the only way we can get through with that is due to the pandemic waivers from the state. Those end July 31.”
DeLorenzo agreed to discuss concerns with hospital representatives, and he also hoped that the pay raises the council approved would help ease the staffing shortages.
