Ambulance board welcomes Rickabaugh

Newly-elected Nodaway County Ambulance District board member Phil Rickabaugh and re-elected board member Rick Allen were sworn in during the regular meeting on April 9.

Unit 139 is back in service and is working fine.

The inflatable shelter has arrived. The total cost for the district, after the $21,500 insurance payment, was $500. It was purchased from Zumro, Pompano Beach, FL, for $22,000.

It was approved to purchase a Toughbook laptop computer for use in the ambulance. Currently, there are five ambulances with four laptops. The new purchase will allow each unit to have its own technology. It was purchased from Rugged Equipment, Arlington Heights, IL, for $1,570.

A conflict of interest policy was signed by board members and submitted to the Missouri Ethics Committee. The document is signed every April.

The emergency responder class started April 9 and will be held on Sundays continuing through July. There are 15 participants.

Lifenet conducted a landing zone class on April 16 at the district base.

An extrication class will be held for new emergency medical responders (EMR) from 8 am to noon, April 21 at the district base.

Julie Schmitz, John Maxwell and Bill Florea will attend various trainings located in St. Louis. Four full-time employees and one part-time employee attended the instructor training in Columbia in March.

Brandy Gast is holding an EMR course in Burlington Jct. with 15 participants.

Brittany Drummond was hired as a full-time EMT.

After discussion during a closed session, it was approved to grant Schmitz a 16¢ per hour merit raise and a $650 performance incentive. Maxwell was granted a $362.50 performance incentive and a $660 longevity incentive.