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Carlisle County approves EMS monitor and ventilator purchases using block grant and opioid-abatement funds
Summary
County officials approved two EMS equipment purchases: monitor equipment funded by an annual $10,000 block grant and two ventilators (quote $19,663) to be paid from the county's opioid-abatement funds, citing emergency-care needs for overdose patients given the county's distance from a hospital.
Speaker 5 (ambulance/EMS staff) told the court the county needs new monitor equipment from MFI Medical and asked to use the annual $10,000 block grant from "Kaye Beams" to purchase it for the ambulance bay and for planned community paramedicine visits.
"This is gonna be part of our $10,000 block grant that we get from Kaye Beams every year," Speaker 5 said when introducing the monitor purchase, adding the devices would support blood pressure, pulse-ox and other checks for walk-ins and for the county's community paramedicine program. Speaker 1 moved to approve the purchase; Speaker 3 seconded and the motion carried by voice vote.
Speaker 5 then presented a Master Medical quote totaling $19,663 to buy two ventilators and necessary circuits and masks, proposing the county use opioid-abatement funds to pay for the purchase. Speaker 5 said ventilators are the best treatment when, after an overdose, breathing cannot be restored with naloxone and the county is roughly 30 miles from the nearest hospital.
"...being 30 miles from the hospital, someone with an opioid overdose, if Narcan doesn't work... having a ventilator is the best treatment," Speaker 5 stated, arguing the equipment could be life-saving. The court agreed to purchase the ventilators and related supplies using opioid-abatement money; a motion was made and approved by voice vote.
The transcript indicates the county's opioid-abatement fund balance is "almost $80,000," and several speakers noted the county has been limited in allowable uses for the funds, which must be opioid-related. Speaker 5 said the ventilators and consumables include circuits and face masks required to use the devices on the trucks.
The court's approvals were recorded as voice votes with no roll-call tallies in the transcript. No additional conditions or follow-up reporting requirements are recorded in the meeting record.
Next steps: staff will complete procurement with the vendor(s) and place one ventilator on the front-line ambulance and one on a backup vehicle; Speaker 5 also signaled further implementation details (consumables, circuits) will be acquired as part of the purchase.
