The Daily Herald has an article about a decision by the First Fire District not to renew a contract for EMS with the Antioch Rescue Squad.

The Antioch Rescue Squad (ARS) faces an uncertain future after the First Fire Protection District of Antioch announced it will not renew its emergency management service contract with the volunteer organization in May, cutting ties with the squad after 75 years. The decision announced Tuesday night by the three-member fire district governing board means the troubled rescue squad will no longer provide assistance in Antioch Township on emergency rescue calls or in transporting patients to area hospitals.

In its letter to the ARS governing board, officials from the First Fire Protection District of Antioch said “the time has come for the district to look at options to provide EMS service other than our longtime partnership with ARS.” It said the district will utilize the Antioch Fire Department, the emergency service provider for the village of Antioch, when the current contract expires May 9.

“I’m personally disappointed,” ARS Chief Brian DeKind said Wednesday. “It means, after 75 years of service, the squad will not be providing emergency ambulance care in Antioch.”

The ARS now faces the prospect of having to shift its focus away from emergency medical services or go out of business.

Antioch Rescue Squad members are scheduled to meet Thursday to discuss ways it can continue to serve the community “through programs such as home health care and wellness checks,” DeKind said in a news release. DeKind added that, until last year, the volunteer-based ARS was the sole emergency service provider in Antioch and Antioch Township since 1940.

He stressed that ARS operated without placing a tax burden on the public, instead raising operating funds from donations and memorials. It purchased its own equipment, vehicles and supplies at no cost to taxpayers, he said.

However, trouble started for the ARS in 2012 when a sexual harassment lawsuit was filed by three former members against several rescue squad colleagues and high-ranking rescue squad officials.

That lawsuit led to an Illinois Department of Public Health investigation that revealed some rescue squad members were mistreating patients, allowing employees to begin shifts within hours of excessively drinking alcohol, and slipping medications into the food and drinks of fellow squad members. The state later fined ARS and asked for operational changes.

Also, former Antioch Rescue Squad treasurer John Edgell was charged with theft of more than $10,000 after it was determined he had been taking cash from the squad. He pleaded guilty in November to a misdemeanor count of theft and was forced to pay back $25,000.

The mounting problems pushed former chief Wayne Sobczak to retire and led to former rescue squad President Steve Smouse to step down. DeKind replaced Sobczak and was tasked with rebuilding the squad’s tarnished image.

Village officials and the ARS cut ties in May 2013, resulting in the Antioch Fire Department handling emergency medical calls in the village, and the ARS handling emergency calls in the township.

In Tuesday’s letter announcing the split, the fire district board said its decision to change EMS service to the Antioch Fire Department will put financial, operational and personnel command for emergency services in Antioch and Antioch Township under one unified command. Antioch Fire Department Chief John Nixon said township residents will see no disruption in service when the change takes place May 9.

The letter from the First Fire District to the Antioch Rescue Squad;

thanks FFPM71

And from the Lake County News Sun:

The First Fire Protection District, serving Antioch Township, is terminating its contract May 1 with Antioch Rescue Squad to provide emergency medical services in the township. This follows action taken a year ago by the village of Antioch to terminate its contract with ARS, a not-for-profit organization of volunteers that had provided 911 ambulance service for all Antioch-area residents since it was created in 1940.

In a letter from the First Fire Protection District’s board of directors, the squad was lauded for its service to the community but informed the squad that on May 1 it would be providing EMS services through the Antioch Fire Department.

Ambulance service for village residents is provided using contract personnel and part-time paramedics and EMTs on the fire department staff using village-owned ALS (advanced life support) ambulances.

Fire Chief John Nixon said ambulance service will be provided in both the village and unincorporated area with fire department staff and ambulances. “All of our ambulances will serve both the village and unincorporated areas out of three stations, including two in the village and one on Grass Lake Road in the unincorporated area that is being staffed now by ARS.” He said unincorporated Antioch will continue to see quality EMS care and there will be no lapse in services.

ARS Chief Brian DeKind said the membership will meet later this week to discuss their options. “We could serve other municipalities, but the more realistic approach is to either dissolve the squad or serve the community in a different way, such as privately contracting with residents for medical transportation service. We want to continue to serve the community.”

ARS had updated its policies and procedures, changed leadership and reorganized its board of directors since it was cited and fined in 2012 by the Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) for violations of EMS protocols, including patient mistreatment, unprofessional conduct, breaches of confidentiality, improper use of medications and IV fluids and ARS paramedics working while under the influence of alcohol. Other issues have plagued the organization, including the arrest and conviction of ARS Treasurer John Edgell for stealing ARS funds, suspension of the licenses of several paramedics and the settlement of a sexual harassment suit made by female paramedics.

DeKind said with the loss last year of the village contract the organization, funded by community support and fundraisers, was facing financial difficulties. “We lost 50 percent of our revenue when we lost the village contract and we were asking for financial support from the First Fire District to make up that shortfall between insurance reimbursement and our costs.”

Both the village and township are moving toward a consolidated services model under the direction of the fire department that would be funded through a separate EMS tax levy.

“It is apparent that the time has come for the district to look at options to provide EMS services other than our long-time partnering with ARS. The district, along with the village of Antioch, is working to establish an EMS tax levy to be decided by the voters in November 2014.”

Tags: Antioch Fire Chief John Nixon, Antioch FIre Department, Antioch First Fire District, Antioch Rescue Squad, ARS Chief Brian DeKind, First Fire Protection District of Antioch, Illinois Department of Public Health