The pjstar.com has an article about the Chillicothe Rescue 33 (Peoria area) being suspended
Chillicothe’s volunteer ambulance service, Rescue 33, has been permanently suspended by the Peoria Area EMS System.
The suspension, effective 6 a.m. Tuesday, Sept. 24, comes just three weeks into a 90-day probation period that the service received because of staffing deficiencies and inadequate response times.
“It kills me to have to do this,” said Cheryl Colbenson, the medical director of the Peoria Area EMS System. “But it’s the right thing to do.”
It is the first time an ambulance service has been shut down by the Peoria Area EMS System, Colbenson said. She said she informed Rescue 33 about the suspension on Thursday and followed up with a detailed letter explaining the reasons for the permanent suspension. She’d been receiving reports on all of Rescue 33’s calls since it had been placed on probation and hadn’t seen any improvements.
“When they were placed on 90-day probation, (officials knew) if at any time they were unable to provide the ambulance service necessary, then the permanent suspension could be put in place,” she said.
City and Rescue 33 officials worked Friday on a contingency plan for ambulance service for city residents to implement beginning Tuesday morning. Mayor Troy Childers said no decision had been made by Friday afternoon.
“We need to be certain that the citizens of Chillicothe have reliable ambulance service,” Childers said. “Of course, it needs to be remembered that service won’t be free anymore like it is with Rescue 33. Users will be paying a charge whatever service we sign on with.”
Fire Chief John Myers said he was working on an agreement to have Peoria-based Advanced Medical Transport of Central Illinois answer Chillicothe calls beginning Tuesday morning.
Read the entire article HERE.
thank Chris
