Polk County justices voted on Sept. 30 to approve a transfer of existing EMS funds to cover an initial payment for a proposed five‑year lease of eight Lifepak 35 cardiac monitors from Stryker, while seeking formal blessing from the county ambulance board before signing the lease.

The transfer moves money within Polk County EMS’s budget so staff can start negotiations and secure lease pricing; the court did not sign a lease at the meeting. Dale Saffold, who presented the proposal as head of the EMS department, and Logan Cruz, a Stryker representative, answered technical and cost questions during nearly three hours of discussion.

The Lifepak 35 monitor package under discussion would include the monitors themselves plus five‑year ProCare service coverage for other Stryker equipment in use by Polk County EMS (cots, power‑load systems, compression devices and stair chairs). Stryker told the court the contract pricing quoted is Sourcewell cooperative‑purchase pricing.

Supporters said the new monitors include clinical features they expect will improve cardiac arrest care. Logan Cruz and Stryker staff described CPR Insight, a technology that Stryker said is FDA‑cleared to analyze rhythm without stopping chest compressions, and STJ Insight for advanced 12‑ to 15‑lead evaluation. Cruz also described software that will allow monitors to transmit patient data directly to hospitals and provide post‑event analytics for training and quality improvement.

Several justices and EMS staff pressed for budget clarity. Justice Harvey and Justice Sparks asked whether the EMS service budget would absorb five annual lease payments and whether the county would still be able to fund other capital needs. Saffold said the ambulance service generates its own revenues and that he expects to offset lease payments by reducing capital‑equipment purchases and using ambulance service revenues rather than county general fund money.

Some justices questioned procurement details and ancillary charges. Multiple justices and Stryker representatives discussed a disputed freight charge of roughly $8,000–$10,000 that Stryker’s representatives attributed to current freight practices and liability coverage. Several justices said they expected the vendor to seek a lower freight charge; one justice said he would personally drive to pick up equipment to avoid the freight line item.

Justices also raised governance and procedure concerns. Several justices said they expected the ambulance board — which reviews and oversees the EMS budget — to consider any multi‑year commitment. Saffold said he had spoken with the ambulance board chairman and that the chairman supports the plan, but the full ambulance board had not yet met to vote on the lease. The court approved the internal transfer to allow negotiation to proceed but asked Saffold to obtain the ambulance board’s formal blessing before signing a lease.

On operational points, EMS staff said Polk County has 10 ambulances with five operating at a time, and the plan calls for eight of the new monitors on ALS (advanced life support) units; basic life support units would continue to carry simplified AED monitors. EMS staff and Stryker noted that Department of Health ambulance licensing ties equipment to individual licensed units, which limits free swapping of monitors between trucks.

Action and next steps: the court approved the transfer of funds to cover the initial payment for lease negotiations. The court did not sign a lease; staff were directed to consult the ambulance board (Saffold said he has a meeting scheduled with the board on Oct. 21) and return with the ambulance board’s view before executing a binding lease.

The court’s decision moves the county into formal negotiations with Stryker while leaving final multi‑year commitments contingent on ambulance board review and further court direction.