Two Mitchell County Commissioners had questions for the representative of the new EMS provider, Lifeguard at the commissioners’ meeting on October 5th. According to the Mitchell News-Journal Commissioners Vern Grindstaff and Jeff Harding wanted to know why there were no ventilators and fewer IV pumps on the emergency vehicles. According to Grindstaff when Mission ran the emergency services they had a ventilator and two IV pumps on every truck. According to Global Medical Response representative Dempsey Whitt, it is not typical for 911 EMS vehicles to carry these items and they will have that equipment at a central location. The equipment and its location was not specifically listed in the contact but commissioners expected equivalent services. Another complaint commissioners had was the striping on the vehicles., noting that the words “Mitchell County” were hard to see. Whitt said he would try to fix the problems. In an October 15th email County Manager Tim Greene said Lifeguard had put a ventilator and an IV pump in place and he expected further conservations. The county contracted with Lifeguard to take over in July after Mission’s contract ran out. The five year contract costs $1.358 million annually.
