All posts by sentineladmin

2019

AMR Brings the Big Dogs

by Jackie (Muddy) Bubis

August 23, 2019

The West Custer County Hospital Board had a special meeting on Thursday to give AMR an opportunity to present options for them taking over emergency medical services in the county. They invited the Board of County Commissioners but did not provide reserved seating for the commissioners. When asked prior to the meeting why this was, it was stated this was protocol and that this was “their” meeting. However, as the meeting began and AMR made their presentation, the hospital board and their administrator were very quiet.
The clinic conference room was packed with over forty people with overflow in the hallway. Continue reading AMR Brings the Big Dogs →

2019

Meet the Custer County Dive Team

by Sentinel Staff


The all-volunteer public response dive team for Custer County began back in March of 2011, when Charles Cox and Bill Mazurek, both volunteers in the Custer County Sheriff’s Office Posse, got together and started a dive team for search, rescue and recovery purposes in water locations such as lakes, rivers, and ponds. The public response team is an asset to the County because a response dive team from Pueblo or Co Springs can take 24 hours or more to arrive on scene due to shift coverage. In contrast, Custer County’s Volunteer Dive Team is able to respond at a moment’s notice. Continue reading Meet the Custer County Dive Team →

2019, BOCC

SHOCK: Hospital District REQUIRED to Provide EMS Service to Wetmore!

by George Gramlich,
News, Analysis and Commentary

Contrary to what we have been told repeatedly by the West Custer County Hospital District Board (the “District”) and District Management for around the last decade, the District is required, by contract with the Custer County Board of County Commissioners, to provide emergency ambulance services to ALL of Custer County, regardless of whether the area is in the District’s taxing area or not. This surprising fact somehow has not been disclosed to the public by the District and directly contradicts multiple District Management statements that the District has no responsibility for areas
outside of their taxing district. Continue reading SHOCK: Hospital District REQUIRED to Provide EMS Service to Wetmore! →

2019, BOCC

BOCC Workshop with Hospital District on Ambulance Coverage

Monday’s Workshop Clarifies and Distills;
2nd Ambulance Problem Remains

by Jackie (Muddy) Bubis

After three-plus hours of talk and discussion amongst the Commissioners and the Hospital District Board, the people in the eastern portion of Custer County are still relegated to a big maybe on whether they will get an ambulance if they need one.
The meeting began with hospital district chairman Tobin reading several options for EMS for the Wetmore area residents – mostly relying on the county and the commissioners to foot the bill – up to $40K per month.
BOCC Chairman Tom Flower tried unsuccessfully to get the answer to the simple question: who’s responsibility it is to make sure EMS coverage is available for these residents. At one point, the commissioners had to remind Tobin that this issue is no laughing matter.
Two citizens’ input at the end of the meeting really summed the issues up well. One citizen of the hospital district asked if he has a car accident out of the bounds of the hospital district and there is no second crew, will he get the service he is paying taxes for. When the answer was no, he responded that, in that eventuality, the clinic would then be getting a call from his attorney.
The other citizen observation came when the comment was made that, even if you’re in the district, if the first crew is out, the likelihood is that there will not be a second crew to answer your call. The finding from this citizen was that this shows that the ambulance service is incapable of covering even their own district – a job they are being paid to do.
The OEM also commented that the first question that must be established is who is responsible for handling this issue – and Mr. Flower’s question came full circle. “Only one entity can make the decision,” she stated. In the end, three things are on the to-do list:
1) The BOCC will schedule another meeting with the people of Wetmore to find out what the people in the area want to do – because the entire hospital district board didn’t come to the last one.
2) Clinic administrator Lisa Drew is meeting with AMR tomorrow (Tuesday) and will let her board and the BOCC know what came of that meeting.
3) The clinic will come up with a call for service fee for the Wetmore area people, what board member Weisenbach called “Uber for medical.”
How soon any of that will happen is anyone’s guess. But if a call for chest pain comes in tonight in no-man’s land – even if it’s for a taxpayer in the district – and if a second crew is not available – that person is on his own.

Uncategorized

Silver Cliff Spearheads Unified Approach for Fiber-Broadband

Silver Cliff Spearheads Unified Approach
for Fiber-Broadband

“Historic Inter-Governmental Cooperation
underway among all local entities…”

by Mark Carmel,
Carmel Management Company

Many community leaders and concerned citizens are now calling for historic cooperation and collaboration as a result of a “Special Meeting” convened on August 1, 2019. The Town of Silver Cliff Board of Trustees welcomed Custer County Commissioners Bill Canda, Tom Flower and Jay Printz, Westcliffe Mayor Paul
Wenke along with Westcliffe Trustee representatives, and a full house of concerned citizens at Town Hall. Continue reading Silver Cliff Spearheads Unified Approach for Fiber-Broadband →

Uncategorized

West Custer County Hospital District responds to articles on No Ambulence

Dear Editor,

In response to the July 19 article titled, “No response to Wetmore Emergency,” I would like to provide more facts in this particular call.

It is correct that Custer County EMS (CCEMS) was called to provide service in Wetmore. (an area that has never been a primary call area for CCEMS)

It is correct that a second  CCEMS crew was called. The reason a second crew is called is to ensure that the primary service area (the West Custer County Hospital District) has a crew to respond to its service area.

It is correct that a  second CCEMS crew was not available.

It is correct that Custer County dispatch called AMR out of Canon City/Pueblo respond to this call.

It is correct that like CCEMS, AMR also did not have the crew availability to provide service outside their primary call service area.

It is not correct that “all the while the ambulance crew up the mountain went back to sleep.”

AMR has a contract with the city of Pueblo and the city of Canon City to provide services to the community, much like Custer County EMS has with the residents of the West Custer County Hospital District. At a time we should be collaborating and working together to solve this challenge of providing care to an area in need, I would request that in the future all of the facts are obtained before an article is published.

As always I encourage questions or comments. Respectfully Submitted,

Lisa Drew, RN, BSN, MSN
Executive Director
West Custer County Hospital District

2019, BOCC

Wetmore: Dial 911 for EMS NO ONE COMES

Custer County Board of Commissioners (BOCC)
Afternoon Workshop
—July 17, 2019
WETMORE, Colo.
by Jackie Bubis
A s you have read in the Sentinel, the people in Wetmore are no longer covered by emergency medical care. For years the people below McKenzie Junction have been served by the Florence Fire Department. But that is no more, due to a lack of personnel.
The West Custer County Hospital District also does not, technically, service this area. At numerous meetings, Director Lisa Drew has attempted to lay this issue in the laps of the county commissioners, who have been wrestling with the issue. The new policy handed down from the hospital district is this: if a 911 call comes in from out of the “district”, then it is dispatch’s job to tone out a second ambulance crew. Until that second ambulance crew is at the ambulance quarters, the on-call crew will not respond. Continue reading Wetmore: Dial 911 for EMS NO ONE COMES →

2019, BOCC

No EMS Response to Wetmore Emergency

Custer County
Commissioners (BOCC)
A.M. Meeting
by Jackie (Muddy) Bubis
-July 17, 2019
WETMORE, Colo.
As you have read in the Sentinel, the people in Wetmore are no longer covered by emergency medical care. For years the people below McKenzie Junction have been served by the Florence Fire Department. But that is no more, due to a lack of personnel.
The West Custer County Hospital District also does not, technically, service this area. At numerous meetings, Director Lisa Drew has attempted to lay this issue in the laps of the the county commissioners, who have been wrestling with the issue.
The new policy handed down from the hospital district is this: if a 911 call comes in from out of the
“district”, then it is dispatch’s job to tone out a second ambulance crew. Until that second ambulance crew is available, the on-call crew stationed in Westcliffe, will not respond.
Imagine for a moment the poor dispatcher trying to handle emergencies is now tasked with scrounging up a second ambulance crew. Imagine it no longer. In the early hours of July 5th, an extreme emergency happened to a person driving down the mountain. At the junction in Wetmore, the driver pulled over for the passenger to be sick. What happened then was the
unthinkable.
The passenger had a significant medical emergency right there in the middle of the road. EMS was toned. Dispatched toned the second crew. No one answered. Finally, Flight for Life was called. Ordinarily, the Fire Department lands the helicopter. In this case, a lone fireman from
Wetmore did the best he could and the helicopter landed and loaded up the unfortunate patient. All the while the ambulance crew up the mountain went back to sleep.
The County Commissioners will further address the issue at a workshop this afternoon at the Wetmore Community Center. More to come on this issue.

Ms Drew responded to this article on 7/25/19. Response HERE

2019

Custerites Fed Up – Sign the Petition at the Sentinel

 

Recall Polis Petition holders have been volunteering to sit outside the
Sentinel at the corner of 6th and Main on weekends, for those voters who want to sign but can’t make it during business hours which are Monday through Thursday 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. and Friday 9 a.m. to noon. The response has been incredible. Above: Ann Barthrop, Peggi Collins, Bill Parker, Joe Cascarelli and Dennis Shaydak. Sentinel Photo

by George Gramlich
The statewide petition to place Colorado’s Governor Jared
Polis on the ballot to be recalled is available to be signed at the
Sangre de Cristo Sentinel at 601 Main Street in Westcliffe, CO. (Other valid petition gatherers are also circulating in the County.) Continue reading Custerites Fed Up – Sign the Petition at the Sentinel →