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
