Prescott EMS facing staffing shortage

Talk about it

PRESCOTT--Bill Dravis speaks with a lot of pride when it comes to the Prescott Emergency Medical Services (EMS).

As a 20-year-member and its current director, it’s expected he would. As he said more than once last week, the goal of the EMS is to provide the best possible care to its constituents.

So, when the State of Wisconsin received a complaint last summer from a resident within the Prescott EMS area, the best possible care wasn’t received, Dravis took it hard.

“It was a valid complaint,” Dravis said. “It hurt to get sent to the state.”

The complaint revolved around staffing. The volunteer crew, which was in the 40’s for members five to 10 years ago, has dwindled down to 24, and Dravis said most of those don’t work in Prescott.

“When we get a call and can’t go because of staffing, it’s terrible that we are not able to take care of those people,” he said.

So Dravis and his seven-person board, from the Towns of Clifton, Oak Grove and the City of Prescott, has been at work since the summer, trying to find a solution.

“The board brought a state representative to a meeting and, basically, we said we know we have a problem, how do we get it fixed?” Dravis said.

One of the suggestions was eliminating the EMS, entirely.

“That was giving up,” Dravis said. He said he understood the board for thinking about it from a taxpayer point of view, but, in his world, that was the last option possible.

For more please read the Feb. 20 print version of the Herald.

Tags: communities, wisconsin, prescott