For many years, Peoria Heights was able to survive, sometimes thrive, with an all-volunteer ambulance service. Particularly during the 1960s and 70s, when Pabst was going great-guns around the clock, there were plenty of volunteers available during the first shift (8 a.m. to 5 p.m.). Over time, that working landscape has changed dramatically, and with it, the strength of the "round the clock" volunteer service.
There's no point to going over what was happening over the past several years with the volunteer service. For the most part, it was working, but it was becoming increasingly difficult to get volunteers, especially for that first shift, because that's when most of the working folks today work. We had several calls for emergency people that could not be responded to, because no volunteers were available. AMT (American Medical Transport) would pick up the load, IF they were in the area, and IF they had nothing else to respond to in their own territory (not Peoria Heights). Oft times, we had to rely on volunteers from West Peoria or Dunlap. In short, it was becoming problematic.
We decided that we had to address the problem, and we did. We began having a round-the-clock paid staff, Basic Life Support, who could respond at any time, and arrive to the emergency quickly. Under the leadership of Director Kenny Martin, and Fire Chief Norm Reichert, the service has received kudos and accolades from many in the medical community. Now, we are taking another step forward... by becoming an Advance Life Support service, with a paramedic available on every shift.
The decision to become an Advanced unit was approved by the Board of Trustees, in a 5-1 vote. Only Trustee Andrea Pendleton voted against the advanced service.
Why is it important for the Village to have its own ambulance service? Because it ties directly into our Fire Department service. If we do not have our own ambulance service, arriving at the scene of a fire, we very likely will be unable to provide any life-saving services by the fireperson attending. Waiting for AMT, or any other private service, to arrive might take a while. The lack of providing life-saving ambulance service could put our Fire Department in jeopardy sometime in the future, as the State of Illinois licenses Volunteer Fire Services. If we were no longer provided with that licensing, we would be forced to contract the City of Peoria for our fire service. The costs of doing so would be prohibitive. Fire fighting is not cheap.
Additionally, the cost of receiving emergency treatment from the Heights EMT service is roughly HALF the cost of receiving it from a private service. It's one more advantage to living in Peoria Heights.
