EMS officer sticks up for dept.

SANDPOINT — A senior Bonner County EMS officer is stepping forward to stick up for the department’s reputation.

“I don’t know what we’re fixing if we’re not broken,” Capt. Dave Ramsey said on Monday.

Ramsey said he resolved to speak up for Bonner EMS following a public meeting on Friday in which fire and law enforcement officials weighed in the county commission’s efforts to improve the EMS system.

County commissioners have cited a variety of reasons for seeking out a new model for EMS, including declining revenue from transports and high employee turnover, which was placing too much drag on the department’s budget. Commissioner Dan McDonald added on Friday that quality assurance/quality control and training evaporated under the department’s former chief.

“What we are seeing with a new interim director is we brought back QA/QC, which had been gone. We don’t know how long it had been gone. We brought back training, which had been gone,” McDonald told police and fire officials.

However, the needle jumped off the record for Ramsey upon hearing those remarks. Ramsey said neither QA/QC nor training suffered, which is backed up by records documenting continuing work in those areas.

“We’ve got a reliably high training rate that is provable,” said Ramsey, referring to instruction on avalanche safety, snowmobile rescue, pre-hospital trauma life support, managing aggressive patients, airway management and new treatments for septic patients.

EMS officials have previously stated that a new billing company being utilized by the department is expected to increase transport revenue, while wage increases that were implemented in the current budget are anticipated to curb turnover.

Post-response patient surveys, meanwhile, indicate that patients are satisfied with the level of service.

“We have 98.7-percent approval rates from the public,” said Ramsey. “Resoundingly, we’re doing really well.”

Other Bonner EMS officials have agreed to speak publicly on condition of anonymity due to concern that they will be subject to retaliation. However, McDonald insisted last month that employees who air concerns have no fear of reprisal.

“We don’t do retribution here. I’ll never go after someone for making a statement about a concern,” McDonald said during a Dec. 19, 2018, EMS crew meeting.

Still, some EMS officials remain concerned that they’ll face reprisal if they speak up. One of Ramsey’s coworkers vouched for Ramsey’s skill and knowledge as a provider.

“He cares deeply about the well-being of the employees at Bonner County EMS and the community members we serve. His willingness to come forward speaks volumes of his integrity and character, and we are very lucky to have him as an integral part of our agency,” the coworker said.

McDonald has also said former Chief Bob Bussey’s law-enforcement background made him a poor fit for administering an EMS service. However, Ramsey described Bussey as capable chief who was responsive to employees and had an eye for detail.

Nevertheless, Ramsey concedes that some EMS personnel did take issue with Bussey’s background in law enforcement.

Bussey, whom the board said resigned, has declined to comment on his departure.

Ramsey said the EMS controversy is creating confusion for patients and he’s concerned it is unfairly painting the department in an unflattering light.

“My fear is that the public got presented with the picture that they’re negligent in their duties,” said Ramsey.

Keith Kinnaird can be reached by email at kkinnaird@bonnercountydailybee.com and follow him on Twitter @KeithDailyBee.