COOK- In a Cook City Council meeting with a relatively light agenda last Thursday, the most weighty item could be found in the monthly ambulance report submitted by director Roland Shoen.
The ambulance service has not been able to staff shifts to provide 24/7 coverage as required, and has been “basically ordered” by the state Emergency Medical Services Regulatory Board to take corrective action.
The EMSRB cited data showing that for the months of June and July there was only one day when there were sufficient staff to cover the entire day.
“So far this month we do not have a 24-hour shift covered either,” Shoen wrote. “I am not sure this can be averted, as I know all our EMT/EMRs have other jobs and therefore it is hard to get this kind of coverage.”
Shoen said that the service has been directed by EMSRB to develop contracts with Tower Ambulance and Orr Ambulance beyond the normal mutual aid agreements to help cover times when no Cook Ambulance crew members are available to cover a shift. The city attorney is drawing up the contracts and they should be available within a week or two, Shoen reported.
In an email to the Timberjay on Monday, Shoen emphasized that while the coverage has had gaps, service for those who have needed it hasn’t been lacking when they needed it.
“Cook has not missed a call since February, so we are covering the calls that come in, we just are not filling our schedule regularly,” Shoen said. “The state is working with us on ways to fill the calendar and we are looking for other way as well to secure Emergency Response in the future, but what that will look like I am not sure just yet.”
In his report, Shoen detailed numerous things that need to be considered when trying to attract more people to the Cook Ambulance service.
“One of the issues being housing in the city, which is almost nonexistent for rental or sale. Other areas would be budget review to see if the city can afford a full-time service; reaching out to lawmakers, commissioners to see what funding is available; creating more incentives like the education credit passed by the council last month; and looking at what we can do regionally for Cook, Orr, Tower, and Nett Lake. Discussion about ‘volunteering’ may be in the near future,” Shoen wrote.
In other business, the council:
• Discussed policies and procedures regarding communication of adverse news affecting city staff with other city employees/officials.
• Approved payment of a $8,550 invoice from JPJ Engineering for work completed on North River Street drainage plans.
• Approved replacement of an air compressor integrated with the fire suppression system at the Last Chance Liquor Store. Summit Fire Protection, which submitted the $2,399 bid, indicated they had supplied a temporary compressor to make sure the fire suppression system remained operational.
• Approved pay invoices of $7,568 for KGM Contractors and $9,105 to S.E.H. for work on the taxiway at Cook Airport. The council also heard that 100 percent of the funding for the new weather system at the airport has been secured.
• Commented on the public open house held by St. Louis County Public Works to discuss the upcoming Vermilion Dr. resurfacing project.
• Approved signing a statutory liability tort waiver form for the city’s new insurer, the Jon Krog Agency.