Iola EMS passes latest state test

A recent state inspection by Iola’s emergency medical service gave the city a perfect score.
Iola Fire Chief Tim Thyer told the Register Friday the ambulance service earned a 100 percent rating by a Kansas Board of Emergency Medical Services inspector.
The annual inspections are held sometime in August or September of each year.
“We just never know exactly when,” Thyer said.
The unannounced inspection looks at the service from top to bottom: condition of the ambulances, how reports are filed, whether medication and supplies remain up to date, and smaller things, such as all the bulbs on each vehicle are in working order.
“Burned out bulbs have dinged us once or twice before,” Thyer said. “The guys do a good job of making sure everything is working properly.”
The inspector also pored over quality assurance documents, Thyer said, by reviewing how EMS reports are filed and reviewed by Dr. Timothy Spears, the city’s EMS medical adviser.
The protocols were a source of concern at recent Allen County Commission meetings as commissioners continue to renegotiate the city’s EMS contract.
“The inspector told me it had been a while since he’d given a 100 percent grade,” Thyer said. “I think that’s a pretty good ‘attaboy’ for the department. The guys have worked hard to make this possible.”