Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Public Safety topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Hardin County board debates EMS advisory council composition, warns of unwieldy size
Summary
A board member relayed a letter from the Hardin County EMS Association and urged that the EMS advisory council follow Iowa Code and include EMS provider representation; he also warned that adding roughly 10 EMS appointees could expand the advisory body from about 26 to 36 members and slow decision-making.
A board member raised a letter from the Hardin County EMS Association about how the county’s EMS central-service advisory council should be composed and described legal and practical considerations.
Speaker 1 said he had consulted with the county attorney (Attorney Meyer) and that Iowa Code requires that EMS providers have a place on the advisory council, but the statute does not precisely define how many provider seats are required. He said his preference was to have township trustees and mayors (or their delegates) appoint local EMS staff so providers would have representation without unnecessarily enlarging the council. Speaker 1 described the current appointments approach as potentially creating a group of roughly 26 people and warned that adding 10 more EMS representatives could expand the council to about 36 and lengthen deliberations.
Speaker 1 said he has no intention to slight the EMS community and offered flexibility — he would add EMS representatives if the EMS council requests them — but emphasized management and efficiency concerns about excessively large advisory boards.
No formal motion to change the advisory council composition was recorded; the comments were framed as information and guidance for how the county intends to proceed with appointments and statutory compliance.
