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It has been out with the old and in with the new for Emergency Medical Services at Goodland Regional Medical Center with the arrival of a new ambulance for the service and the donation of an older ambulance to Northwest Technical College. The new ambulance was delivered to GRMC in March and features options not included on any of the other models in the service. A power side step will make getting into the vehicle easier and safer for riders and features like the interior and exterior cameras will help drivers monitor for safety as well. The new ambulance will also have a small refrigerator for medicine and funding from two memorials will allow the Ambulance Service to purchase trauma bags for the ambulances. The out-of- service ambulance will continue to serve the county as a training vehicle for the Respiratory Therapy program at Northwest Technical College. The donation allows the students to train for special transfer situations in a moving vehicle. According to instructor Leona Evans, some transfers require a respiratory therapist in the ambulance and the program can now offer training for that. Although the public will not see a change, there are other changes in the future for the Ambulance Service. The county commissioners, hospital administrators and board recently agreed that moving the service under the county’s oversight would be more fiscally responsible. The county would no longer need to provide tax support for the hospital to operate the service, while the hospital would recapture a similar amount of revenue currently lost as Medicare write-offs. The move would also allow the ambulance service to apply for grants that are not available to hospital-based programs, according to Bruce Gleason, EMS Director. The commissioners and hospital will be working together on a plan for a county-based service. |
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| 220 W. 2nd Street, Goodland, Kansas 67735, (785) 890-3625 | ||||||||||
