Argos Town Council members scheduled a special workshop for this week to discuss the Emergency Medical Services (EMS) Department.
EMS Director Sarah McCallum has recently been highlighting her Department’s dire need for more Emergency Medical Technicians (EMTs).
She has explained to town council members that they’re having trouble getting anyone to sign up for the volunteer positions. To incentivize people to come work for Argos, they’ve even been offering to help pay for certification for individuals who qualify.
When members met Wednesday, Councilwoman Suzanne Umbaugh asked McCallum if she had any luck gathering interest at the TGIF Argos event earlier this month.
She replied that one person indicated they would try to attend the training, if they could make the time for it. She added that one of their biggest problems is convincing people about the importance of stepping up to the plate.
She explained, “Every two years, we have to attend 34 hours of continuing education and for a volunteer it’s tough, it is.”
McCallum continued, “Everyone is currently saying ‘someone else will do it’ and not wanting to put in that time and effort.”
Councilman Charles Randy Snead added that the town has good equipment and they have a good group of people who are currently working in the department but they are obviously in need of some help.
Snead shared, “Our people in this town deserve to have ambulance service, they deserve to have somebody who can give them good care and everything when they’re needing it.”
He added, “We’re going to have to do something about it. Something has got to be done and it has to be done soon. We can’t drag this out.”
He mentioned that the window to address this problem is pretty small, with only about 6 to 8 months to get a solution established before it becomes a bigger issue.
In order to sit down and discuss the matter in more detail, members decided to hold a workshop at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, June 27th. Director McCallum said she would do some additional research in regards to funding in the meantime.
If you have an interest in working with Argos EMS talk with Town officials by visiting the Municipal Building located at 201 West Walnut Street or by calling 574-892-5717.
