The effort to standardize EMS in Ross County has made another step forward. Kevin Coleman was at a meeting of townships Thursday night, May 4th, 2023.
Trustees representing all the townships in the county, plus the sheriff and other county officials, met for about an hour at the Scioto Township Hall on South Watt Street in Chillicothe.
They were asked to state their level of commitment - which may be zero - towards paying for a study on improving emergency medical services (EMS).
This was after more than a year of building inertia to avoid repeating the debacle of a Twin Township woman dying after waiting for an ambulance for almost an hour on Christmas Day of 2021.
Jim Hatfield, president of the Ross County township association, agreed that the townships are a crazy quilt of paid and volunteer EMS personnel, and mutual aid. He said "my prayer is that something good'll happen, that we can have equal emergency service for everybody in Ross County...not just part of Ross County."
The county commissioners have committed to pay for half of the study, which Hatfield said may cost $100,000 to $120,000 and take six to eight months.
Hear Hatfield's summary of the meetings leading up to this one, in Kevin's interview below. Also read Kevin's reports on Countywide EMS meetings in January and February.
Kevin Coleman covers local government and culture for iHeart Media Southern Ohio. For stories or questions, contact the iHeart Southern Ohio Newsroom or Kevin Coleman
President of the Ross County township association Jim Hatfield (standing, in light blue shirt) coordinated the meeting in the Scioto Township Hall on paying for a study on improving county Emergency Medical Services.