Ambulance call rates still high

District may have to consider adding more personnel to shifts

If the current trend of higher call rates continues, the Callaway County Ambulance District may have to consider adding more personnel to help handle the increased volume.

The ambulance district has been consistently seeing a high number of calls over the past several months, bringing the year-to-date total as of July to 2,361 compared to 2,190 at the same time last year.

When board member Chuck Baker asked during Tuesday night's regular board meeting whether calls have been stacking up lately, Assistant Director Linda Ellis said they had.

While she said the district sometimes will go for several hours with no calls, "then there will be five or six calls all at once." Adding to the problem, Ellis said there have been more calls recently that require runs to hospitals in Columbia and Jefferson City, which means the ambulances are gone longer.

"We've had a huge amount of calls. Charlie (Anderson, director) and I have been talking about it, and what we may need to do in the future," Ellis said. "We may have to look at possibly next year adding another crew, but it would be a huge expenditure.

"We're on that edge where we may have to put more people on the schedule. We just have to keep watching it and see if it continues."

To help the tornado-stricken people of Dumas and surroundings, donations can be made to the Delta Area Disaster Relief Fund, care of the Delta Area Community Foundation, P.O. Box 894, Dumas, AR, 71639, or through the Arkansas Community Foundation, 700 S. Rock St., Little Rock, AR, 72202.