Councilman raises serious EMS concerns

Lockwood recommending an outside investigation

SANDPOINT - Bonner County's Emergency Medical Service system remains plagued with problems and is putting lives in jeopardy, Sandpoint Councilman Steve Lockwood warned commissioners on Tuesday.

Lockwood, speaking as a councilman but not a council representative, read commissioners a letter he wrote identifying no fewer than nine serious problems within the system which are dragging down patient care and the quality of EMS in Bonner County.

The issues identified by Lock-wood included “substantial” narcotics control discrepancies, “inadequate” medical direction, a “weak and distrustful” relationship between the county and Bonner General Hospital, “incomplete” protocols for emergency care, training deficiencies, patient transport delays, and lax quality assurance and quality improvement standards.

“I am reasonably sure that all of you are aware of each issue I am presenting, and I am very concerned these issues have persisted with your knowledge,” Lockwood said, reading from the letter.

Lockwood also recommended that an independent investigation be conducted to take an unbiased look at the problems so they can be resolved once and for all.

Commissioners took Lockwood's letter under advisement because it was presented during the public comment portion of the board's meeting.

After the meeting, Lockwood was reluctant to elaborate too much on the problems or stray from the contents of his letter. He did say the problems are more a pattern than a collection of isolated incidents.

Lockwood added that each of the issues he raised has been confirmed through a variety of different public safety sources within and outside Bonner County.

Commission Chairman Lewie Rich did not dispute the contents of Lockwood's letter when asked to comment after the meeting.

“Every issue that's on there has been a problem that was identified a long time ago and each of them are in different stages of remedy and fix. But they're not new,” Rich said.

Rich expects resolution of the problems will gain speed now that the county has hired a new EMS chief, John Givens, who started last month.

Rich said the board has not decided if it will take Lockwood's advice and have an outside investigation conducted.

“I wouldn't offer an opinion until the board discussed it,” Rich said.

Lockwood contends internal methods of dealing with the problem haven't yielded results and that employees are being actively discouraged from participating in improving the system. He attached to the letter an internal Bonner EMS memo issued late last year which directed personnel not to violate the chain of command by taking matters straight to commissioners or the county's risk management director.

Lockwood contends the memo underscores the need for an outside investigation.

“They need to get somebody from outside to take a look,” Lockwood said after Tuesday's meeting.