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Officials say Sawyer County ambulance staffing shortages drive discussion of new bases and mutual aid
Summary
Staff reported shortages of paramedics and plans to advance current AEMTs through paramedic training; the committee discussed potential locations for a staffed ambulance base (Round Lake, Brown Lake, Exland/Stone Lake) and urged reporting of specific long‑response incidents for follow‑up.
County staff briefed the committee on ambulance operations, saying the biggest gap is a shortage of paramedics and that the county currently has three AEMTs enrolled in paramedic school who are expected to graduate after the new year. Staff said the county may open EMT positions to backfill roles and noted that reliance on on‑call responders prompted a move to more full‑time staffing in recent years.
The committee discussed basing decisions: staff said a permanent base in Round Lake has been requested and that moving an ambulance from Hayward to Brown Lake has been considered, but that lower call volume in some locations means an ambulance may be mobile much of the time. Staff said Hayward averages about six calls a day and that mutual aid remains an option when local ambulances are unavailable.
Public comment earlier in the meeting recounted a local ambulance response taking about an hour and 20 minutes in Ojibwe; staff asked members to forward any specific incident details so staff can investigate and verify outlier response times.
Why it matters: Ambulance response and staffing affect public safety and budgeting choices; the county is weighing base locations, training pipelines and mutual aid to manage response times while balancing operational costs.
