EMS Director Says County Needs Weekend Day Truck Crew

March 23, 2019
By: Dwayne Page

Should the county bring back the ambulance service day truck crew on weekends?

Hoyte Hale, Director of the DeKalb EMS operation, met with the budget committee of the county commission recently to formally make the request.

In an effort to streamline costs, the county last summer decided to stop the day truck shifts on Saturdays and Sundays from 7 a.m. until 7 p.m. while still providing the county coverage with the two other around the clock crews over the weekends.

Hale said there is a need to bring back the day truck. The additional costs to staff it with full time personnel would be $61,000 per year to the county. The expense would be less if Hale could use  part time staff.

The DeKalb EMS operation uses two around the clock crews every day during the week and a day truck crew from 7 a.m. until 5 p.m. Mondays through Fridays.

EMS staff work on a 24/72 (24 hours on duty/72 hours off duty) schedule.

Hale said bringing back the day truck crew on the weekends would provide better coverage to the county and offer relief to crews working the other two shifts.

According to Hale, much of the demand for extra weekend help is created by the volume of calls from the hospital for patient transports to medical facilities in other counties, most of which are convalescent runs.

“We did 452 transports out of the hospital and out of the county from July 1, 2018 to February 28, 2019 including sending patients to 95 doctor’s appointments. The average time on a run like this when an ambulance is not in the county can be from two to eight hours,” said Hale.

During times when there are more calls than available ambulances, the county has to count on EMS operations in adjoining counties to handle them through mutual aid agreements.

Hale said bringing back the day truck crew on weekends would potentially generate more revenue to the county and lessen fatigue on the staff as well as wear and tear of the ambulances. “There are times when only one truck is available to cover the county, a 329 square mile area,” said Hale.

EMS director Hale is also asking for a $3,000 pay raise. He currently earns $50,000 per.

The budget committee took no action on Hale’s request but will consider it when finalizing the 2019-20 spending plan to send to the county commission.

March 23, 2019
By: Dwayne Page

The DeKalb Telephone Cooperative, Inc. d/b/a DTC Communications Board of Directors appointed Brian Alexander to fill the unexpired term of his deceased brother, Michael Alexander, continuing the family’s service to the cooperative.

Alexander joins the 10-member board responsible for overseeing the cooperative.

“We’ve lived in and been serving people in the DTC area for all of our lives,” Alexander says. “Growing up locally, we’ve met many people and made great friends along the way. I want to continue our family’s history of service and fulfill my brother’s commitment to the members of DTC Communications.”

Alexander serves in the Woodbury area as a rural mail carrier. He started his career with the US Postal Service in 1998.

He is a graduate of Cannon County High School. Alexander and his wife, Andrea, have been married for 18 years and have two sons: Braxten, 15; and Andrew, 8.

Now, Alexander hopes to continue the dedication his brother gave to the DTC board, employees, and members. “I really appreciate the opportunity the DTC board has given me to complete my brother’s elected term. He loved representing the Woodbury community and serving all of the members of the cooperative.”

Michael Alexander, 53, died from injuries he received in an automobile accident on January 11 in Cannon County. Just more than a year remains of his board term.

DTC Communications is a member-owned telecommunications cooperative established in 1951. The cooperative provides communication, entertainment, and security products and services to residential and business customers, primarily throughout Middle Tennessee.

March 22, 2019
By: Dwayne Page

A fisherman had a close call on Center Hill Lake Friday morning.

Local officials said a Williamson County man was on his bass boat when he got too close to Center Hill Dam while the spill gates were partially open. The current pulled his boat up against one of the spill gates causing it to turn up on its side in the water. The man, who was not wearing a life jacket, fell into the lake but he was able to grab onto the boat and managed to pull himself up and stand on the side of the vessel with it partly submerged until help arrived.

A passing boater spotted him and went nearby to the marina at Edgar Evins State Park to get help. Workers from the boat dock boarded a pontoon boat and rescued the man. He was brought back to the marina uninjured.

TWRA officers were able to salvage the boat and towed it to the marina.

The Smithville-DeKalb County Rescue Squad was initially summoned to the scene but Captain Dustin Johnson said the man had already been rescued and the boat towed by the time they arrived.