Vote for the EMS referendum

Ashley+Vickers+EMS+Chief

photo courtesy of Ashley Vickers

Ashley Vickers EMS Chief

On November 8, 2022, voters in the City of Whitewater will be asked whether or not to increase the property tax levy to support the City’s share of EMS staffing improvements. For decades, Whitewater relied on a paid-on-call staffing model but in the past two years, we relied heavily on our neighboring departments to help cover calls that we could not respond to ourselves because of this failed model. Due to over 2,000 calls per year with over 80% of those calls for ambulance service, along with covering over 90 square miles of additional townships, this process no longer provides adequate levels of service and response time for our community. If the referendum is approved, the increased funding would support up to 17 full-time, paid-on-premises firefighters and EMTs to address increased calls for service, surging response times and a lack of available paid-on-call staff. In addition, night and weekend fire coverage would be provided on site as well as a capital equipment replacement program for all vehicles and equipment. This means we will be able to pay our Fire and EMS staff to remain on site, resulting in faster response times and saving minutes in the event of an emergency. As we say in EMS, ‘time is tissue’, so the quicker we respond, the quicker we can provide needed life-saving interventions. This referendum ensures sustainable and durable Fire and EMS services now, and for the future. We hope to see you at the Whitewater polls on Tuesday, November 8th.