|
| |
How help arrives: Check out
the map
| Publication |
Kane County Chronicle |
| Date |
July , 2008 |
| Section(s) |
Local |
| Page |
|
http://www.kcchronicle.com/articles/2008/07/07/news/local/doc4871ea277c58a141913024.txt
You can find Edwin Huellstrounk on the lower level of Delnor
Hospital in Geneva, with a lot of maps.
Huellstrounk, the coordinator for the Southern Fox Valley EMS
System, is the keeper of maps showing response times for 22
emergency rescue agencies in the Fox Valley, from St. Charles to
Aurora and from Yorkville to Plano. Delnor is one of 62 EMS
resource hospitals in Illinois.
Anyone can visit Huellstrounk’s office to learn how long it will
take for an ambulance to arrive in a specific place when someone
dials 911.
Though the maps are public record, only once in seven years has
someone come in to check the maps, Huellstrounk said.
Any fire department, ambulance service or private agency that
provides emergency medical care must file these maps. Agencies
mark the maps to show where they can respond in under six
minutes, six to 15 minutes, and more than 15 minutes,
Huellstrounk said.
“These are average times. They guarantee to their public they
will be there within X amount of time within the circle they
fall under,” Huellstrounk said. “If you live in a 15-minute-plus
area, you take your chances.”
When Kathleen Heinrich’s husband, Richard, had a heart attack in
March, she was surprised to learn from the 911 operator that
rescuers were coming from Big Rock, not from Elburn, which is
closer to her home.
Heinrich has publicly questioned why Kaneville, which is a fire
protection district without ambulance service, has a contract
with an ambulance service so far away. The agreement also
encompasses service to Kaneland schools.
She doesn’t have a complaint about Big Rock paramedics’ response
to her husband’s heart attack.
“My concern is with the safety of these children,” Heinrich
said.
Rural living has its tradeoffs, and longer response time for
emergency services can be one of them. Kaneville fire officials
defend the contract with Big Rock, saying the response times are
sufficient and the price is right.
The cost
For years, Elburn and Countryside Fire Protection District
provided emergency medical service to Kaneville and Maple Park
because those fire districts did not have their own ambulance
services.
Kaneville paid about $25,000 a year, while Maple Park and
Countryside Fire Protection District paid about $50,000 a year
for the service, officials said.
But in 2003, Elburn was building a second station and hiring
more employees. And it needed more money to pay for contractual
ambulance service, officials said.
“What we charged for ambulance calls did not totally support the
budget for providing the ambulance coverage,” Elburn Emergency
Medical Services Director Wayne Stevens said. “It offset the
cost.”
Maple Park Fire Chief Kevin Peterson and Kaneville Fire Chief
David Sigmund remember the amount being about $260,000, but
Elburn Fire Chief Kelly Callaghan said no amount was ever
stated.
“Numbers were thrown out, but nothing was ever determined of
what it was going to be,” Callaghan said.
Neither department could afford such an increase.
Maple Park asked for Elburn’s continued support so it could
start its own ambulance service – which it launched in 2005
after a successful referendum – and Kaneville contracted with
Big Rock for ambulance service for $30,000 a year.
There was publicity about the change, which officially began
Feb. 1, 2004. Local newspapers carried a letter signed by all
three chiefs advising of the change.
“Elburn ... will continue to provide mutual aid coverage to
Kaneville ... and will be responding for any request for
additional assistance,” the letter states in part. “The Big Rock
fire Department [will] .. provide Kaneville the same quality
service it has received from Elburn’s paramedics, EMTs and
firefighters.”
To see the emergency medical response maps for your area or to
make a complaint:
Southern Fox Valley Emergency Medical Services System, Delnor-Community
Hospital, 300 Randall Road, Geneva Coordinator Edwin
Huellstrounk at 630-208-4048 or email
sfvems@sfvemss.com
More information:
www.sfvemss.com
|
|
