(WASHINGTON CO.) – Despite objections from county officials and ambulance personnel, a motion was made by Washington County Commissioners with a unanimous vote to move the Washington County Ambulance board to a five-member board.
Washington County’s Attorney Dustin Howard was requested to draft an ordinance to restructure the Washington County Ambulance Board.
The new board configuration will consist of three county commissioners and two county council members.
Washington County Council President Karen Wischmeier and Ambulance Director Nick Oleck stated before the vote that more discussion was needed on the matter.
Nevertheless, all three commissioners will now sit on the ambulance board. This comes after the Indiana Emergency Medical Commission and Indiana of Department of Homeland Security released an audit on the Washington County Ambulance Services. The audit revealed that the ambulance service did not meet 14 of 51 audit requirements.
Some of the violations included expired medications and not enough medications and supplies on the ambulances.
The audit was performed on January 28, 2020 and was released to the former ambulance director Scott McFelea, Washington County Ambulance Service Training Officer Steve Young and medical director of Washington County Ambulance Service Dr. Jeff Morgan.
Wischimeier told the commissioners during the meeting that all the violations have since been corrected.
McFelea, the former ambulance service director and operations manager, was appointed interim ambulance director in July 2019. Then in December of 2019, an outside source contacted the Indiana Department of Homeland Security regarding concerns within the ambulance service.
The Indiana Department of Homeland Security came down in January and conducted an inspection and audit which resulted in the report.
In February of 2019, McFelea was asked to step down from the leadership role. Nick Oleck, former supervisor for Scott County Ambulance Service, was hired as the Washington County Ambulance Director.
Oleck was given a copy of the audit report and was given 18 days to resolve the issue.
Here is a summary of the violations:
- Medical Director was not involved in the audit and review.
- Training records were lost when the last training officer terminated employment.
- All trucks are not inspected daily.
- Narcotics are not checked daily.
- No sanitation procedures for cleaning of trucks.
- The medical director did not review run sheets and evaluate EMT or paramedic’s treatments.
- The medical director did not evaluate or participate in regular training sessions.
- Protocols did not list the type of medications, and quantities of drugs required.
Below is a copy of the audit from the Indiana Emergency Medical Commission:
