At its quarterly meeting Monday afternoon at City Hall, Cass-Van Buren Emergency Services Authority (CVBESA) purchased liability insurance as discussed April 18 and reviewed with Pride Care a July 7 complaint from Cass County Central Dispatch that none of the three ambulances was available.

Cassie Sikes of Pride Care (which merged with Coloma Emergency Medical Service, or CEMS) explained to Chairman and Silver Creek Township Supervisor Bill Saunders, Dowagiac City Manager Kevin Anderson, Wayne Township Supervisor Dr. Frank Butts, Pokagon Township Supervisor Linda Preston, Volinia Township Supervisor Gwenn Johnson and Keeler Township Supervisor Bill Kays that the chain of events began with a Keeler Township call.

Doug Westrick of Cass County Central Dispatch had contacted Brian Balow, Pride Care chairman and chief executive officer with his concerns.

“There were three ambulances in the area, in Keeler, Wayne Township and the city,” Sikes explained. “There was a call in Keeler Township. The patient went to Lakeland-St. Joseph. The Wayne car moved up to the city as the city car moved towards Keeler in Van Buren County.”

At the same time, dispatch received a Dowagiac welfare check call.

“They’ve already made new protocols for the decision the dispatcher made. Nine times out of 10, a welfare check is nothing, so she went ahead and had the city car do that. It ended up being an emergency, so they got tied up and nobody stopped to call because their hands were full until the tones dropped for the next call. The Keeler car was still down toward St. Joe and the city car was in Keeler. They asked for the next-closest ambulance, which turned out to be Sister Lakes. Doug didn’t know because he was out of the loop, we understand that now. The dispatcher should have let them know. Everything worked exactly the way it should have except for not letting dispatch know and starting that Keeler car. Next time she’ll starting moving a car when somebody does a welfare check. It will probably never happen again.”

Butts said, “I wouldn’t worry about how busy Cass County Dispatch is, if they’re tied up, they’ll tell you they’re busy. Don’t hesitate to tell them where the cars are in this area. Crews down here need to tell Cass County more. Err on the side of telling them and let them tell you guys, ‘Hey, we’re too busy.‘ I don’t think anything was done wrong. He has expressed to me in the past frustration at dispatchers not getting back with answers.”

In other business, the authority approved spending $1,126 for $2 million in liability coverage. The cost will be divided among the seven entities on a per-capita basis with new census information.

Saunders also mentioned that Pride Care is working with Indian Lake Fire Department to establish first responders.

Response times for the three-month period were not available at the meeting, but were to be e-mailed afterward.

“We’re always looking to help people do that. We think it’s awesome,” Sikes said. “What’s the relationship between the two?” Anderson wondered. “They can open an airway and save a person’s life,” Sikes explained. “A lot of times in motor vehicle accidents, people die because their head goes down or back and they can’t breathe. One of our paramedics said, ‘It is so nice to have people to help out.‘ They’re there to help and, depending on where we are, sometimes get there before us. They can help get the patient ‘packaged.’ It’s a positive, helpful thing” rather than competition or confliict. Sikes said the ambulance service will be collaborating with Dowagiac Fire Department during the Summer in the City festival to offer an extrication demonstration.