By David Slone
Times-Union

WARSAW — June and July was a very busy time for Lutheran EMS, Director of Operations Alicia Mediano told the Warsaw-Wayne Fire Territory Board Tuesday, Sept. 3.

“As you look at the month of June and July in this report, you’ll see that our call volume continues to go up in the summer, which that’s kind of our expected, we know that’s going to happen. It’s pretty known, especially in our community, people come into town,” she said. “Unfortunately, what we don’t expect is the level of acuity that we have seen. … Throughout this summer, we’ve seen a huge uptick in the patients that have needed our services being very acutely ill. In fact, actually needing more services than we’ve normally seen in the past.”

She said they usually see a lot of motor vehicle accidents and injuries from outdoor-related activities. However, during July, she said there was a lot of respiratory emergencies.

“We actually saw the most amount of COVID patients that we’ve seen for almost a year and a half, and so a lot of that high acuity is reflected throughout the month of this report,” Mediano said.

Total encounters in June were 511, with 450 in July. There were 502 in May; 418 in April; 455 in March; 426 in February; and 456 in January.

In his monthly fire activity report, Fire Chief Joel Shilling said they had 355 responses in July. Of those, 127 incidents were overlapping for a total of 36%.

He said they had eight fire calls. Warsaw-Wayne received help from Winona Lake and Claypool fire departments, and gave help to Leesburg, Atwood and Winona Lake.

Shilling said there were a few storms that came through in July so there were two responses there, and in July there were 47 Community Assistance, Resources, Emergency Services calls under special incidents.

The department trained for a total of 506.2 hours in July including dive, technical training, EMS and, with the new hires, on pumping trucks.

“We’re trying to get more guys through, able to be drivers for us,” he said.

Community service totaled 11.5 hours in July, including at the Kosciusko County Community Fair, YMCA and a Fourth of July parade.

C.A.R.E.S. Director Chris Fancil reported August was a slower month, but that was due in part to Community Health Coordinator Mikaela Bixler being on vacation for a week. There were a total of 57 interactions.

“We continue to see mental health navigation as a big ask … and they work with a lot of the different resources to try to make those things happen for people when they call with requests,” Fancil said.

He said they are being utilized more by police, with the sheriff’s office asking them out a couple times to help with some situations.

“We’ve actually been requested by law enforcement on some death scenes, to go out and help families deal with the sudden loss of someone. So I think that’s been a sad but good utilization of the (C.A.R.E.S.) ladies and their training to go out and help families deal with the sudden loss of a loved one,” Fancil stated, adding that the women have taken some initiative in that area and the police department has asked them to come out. “I think it’s a great resource in a time of great need. I’m pretty proud of them for that.”

Upcoming Events

Two upcoming events were highlighted at the WWFT board meeting Tuesday.
Shilling said Family Safety Day is coming up Sept. 14.

Chief’s Assistant Heather Vogts said it’s 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. There will be about 45 vendors.

“We have a couple new ones, we have quite a few new sponsors this year, so we were able to do something really cool and offer Kona Ice free to every attendee who comes to the event, due to our sponsors, so we think that’s really huge,” Vogts stated.

The first 250 attendees will get a “cool” cup that changes colors depending on the temperature of the drink in the cup. There’s also goodie bags for the first 250 as well.

“It’s free. All of it is completely free,” Vogts said.

Shilling said it’s going to be at Warsaw Central Park, 119 E. Canal St., and he thanked the Warsaw Parks and Recreation Department for their assistance.

Fancil reminded everyone that, as part of the Rural Communities Opioid Response Program grant that was received through the C.A.R.E.S. program, “We’re taking part in a substance abuse, opioid abuse event on Thursday out at the PAC (Performing Arts Center) out at the (Warsaw Community) High School. We’re going to have resource tables set up there.”

Doors open at 5 p.m., and from 5-6 p.m., people will be able to talk to representatives from various resources.

At 6 p.m., Judge Karin McGrath will moderate the event, which includes a keynote presentation by Judge Linda Davis. Fancil said Davis will talk about how substance abuse has affected her and her family.

There also will be some local speakers talking about their experiences with substance abuse and what that did to their lives and how their lives have changed because of that.

“I think it’s a really good event. We’re trying to take the stigma away from substance abuse and really talk about the resources and the people that are pulling and trying to help each other and fight this,” Fancil said.

Open to the public, it’s free. He said if you get there between 5-6 p.m. there may be sandwiches available.

“All paid for through the grant, and a lot of different people have come together to make this happen so we’re pretty excited,” Fancil stated.

Agreements

Three contracts were approved by the WWFT Board, which already were approved by the Warsaw Board of Public Works and Safety on Aug. 6.

The first was a three-year inspection service agreement with Koorsen to inspect the sprinkler system for Station 15 for a total of $2,297.

The second was an annual generator equipment maintenance agreement with Cummins Sales and Service for both the WWFT and the Warsaw Police Department. The fire territory’s portion is $2,050.84, with the WPD’s portion being $656.53.

The third was with Howell Rescue Systems to perform preventative maintenance on the fire territory’s Genesis equipment. The three-year contract is for $1,495 in 2025; $1,552.10 in 2026; and $1,614.18 in 2027.