WXOW News 19 La Crosse, WI – News, Weather and Sports |Providing Care for Patients
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Last week La Crosse city and county officials announced plans to put an ambulance into service in the year 2010.
Currently, Tri State ambulance is the only area provider and that company is trying to convince the city to stay out.
There is disagreement over whether an additional city operated ambulance would have a positive or negative impact on patient care.
According to Tri State officials, they are usually only fourty seconds behind first responders.
But, they say adding another ambulance provider would fracture the system, which could lead to delays in responding to patients.
They say it could also harm the quality of service.
That's because opponents of the proposal say adding fire department paramedics into the mix would take valuable experience from tri state paramedics.
Opponents argue there wouldn't be enough emergency calls to keep that many paramedics in top form.
La Crosse Fire Chief Gregg Cleveland counters, saying more paramedics are needed, since the population is growing.
So, there would be enough calls to keep workers sharp.
He says their paramedics would also provide quality care.
Tri State officials say on average, two unit teams will go on eleven calls a day.
