Cardinal Glennon Hospital ambulance leaves Marion Co.

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by Patty Cheffey

The Cardinal Glennon ambulance which has been working out of the Marion County Ambulance District building, pulled their operation out of the county as of Nov. 1.

John Nemes, Marion County Ambulance District chief, reported on the decision during the board meeting recently, at which the board also discussed trucks, heard about the EMS World Expo, heard about a crisis intervention course and critical incident stress debriefing and approved the purchase of a Stryker cot.

After Marion County voted in September to pull their staff off of the Cardinal Glennon trucks, Cardinal Glennon had staffing issues and voted to close down that operation, Nemes said.

That does not mean Cardinal Glennon won’t still serve Marion County, he added. Any cases which the Marion County Ambulance District cannot handle, Cardinal Glennon will still be used.

“Since the call volume is only seven to eight percent of the calls, it made sense to shut it down in Marion County,” Nemes said. “Marion County Ambulance District can handle about 85 percent of those calls, and Cardinal Glennon will do the rest. They will probably fly those out anyway.”

With Cardinal Glennon leaving the district, that will give MCAD another truck, which Nemes said will be rewrap with the district emblems as soon as possible.

That will be a benefit to the county as the new ambulance truck was damaged when it struck a deer during a transfer. As the Ali-Arc bumper had not yet been installed, considerable damage was sustained to the front end, Nemes said, and is being repaired. The new Ali-Arc bumper will be installed too.

He also noted another truck box, which was undamaged in another accident, will be remounted for use if Braun certifies the box for use.

Nemes noted that while the district is still short on trucks, there is a wait for any new vehicles. MCAD will look at having a couple of the older trucks engines repaired to get them back into service.

In other business, four district paramedics attended the EMS World Expo and participated in “valuable training sessions,” Nemes said, including a cadaver lab.

“This hands-on session provides participants with a real-world opportunity to review relevant anatomy associated with critical care and life-saving emergency procedures with cadavers,” he explained, noting most training is on mannequins. “Through this course, our personnel were able to practice procedural skills, such as basic airway management, direct and video laryngoscope intubation, intraosseous access and various other emergency procedures.”

They also visited with several vendors, and Nemes said the employees were proud of the fact, Marion County is already using many of the items on display.

Nemes also reported on an eight-hour Crisis Intervention Team Concepts course at Mark Twain Behavioral Health, which helps law enforcement and other agencies improve the overall outcome of mental health encounters.

They also participated in a critical incident stress debriefing for the crew and personnel involved with an accident in Palmyra.

Our EMS crews, 911 dispatchers and Survival Flight personnel attended the debriefing,” he said. “We want to thank Kim at Mark Twain Behavioral Health for overseeing the session.”

The board approved the purchase of a used Stryker cot to be used in one of the ambulances at a cost of $16,500. It is still certified, Nemes said.

He also reported the district had placed three more AEDs this month, including ones with the Palmyra Fire Department, and two with the Palmyra School District, including one for the new athletic complex and one to travel with the teams during away games.

The board also:

• adopted a banking resolution, adding a person on the accounts as an oversight measure;

• discussed a job description for captains and that an outside group will be interviewing and hiring to fill those positions; and

• heard an update on the numbers of emergency calls handled in September.

The board sent the next meeting for Sept. 2 as a Zoom meeting, at which they will approved the 2022 budget.