The Dexter Leader
A Heritage Newspaper
Weekly Publication
Rules for emergency service calls changed
By Edward Freundl, Staff Writer
PUBLISHED: February 21, 2008
The Washtenaw County Road Commission has issued a "clarification" of its procedures to respond to requests for service from area police and fire departments.
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However, local fire officials and a county commissioner welcomed the recent decision as a new policy that was "long overdue."
"The Washtenaw County Road Commission has changed its procedures regarding responding to first responders' requests for service," said County Commissioner Mark Ouimet, R-District 1, who is the county board's liaison to the Road Commission.
According to Ouimet, the new procedure gives a first responder on the scene the authority to call the Road Commission and request whatever service they need to attain the best service level of safety for the incident.
Under the former procedure, Ouimet said, the first responder calls the Road Commission, they call a supervisor, the supervisor goes to the scene to make an assessment, then calls for whatever service is needed, which "could take up to three hours."
"It's time to re-examine procedures and see if we can come up with a better way of responding to accidents and securing the scene," he said.
The Road Commission issued a statement last week titled "WCRC Response to Requests for Assistance from Emergency Responders."
In an effort to improve our responsiveness, the following procedure has been implemented:
Requests for service from area emergency response agencies will be relayed to the Superintendent of Maintenance or on-call designee.
Superintendent or on-call designee will determine and direct staff response, including equipment and materials to the scene of an emergency.
Superintendent or on-call designee will notify Director of Operations immediately to assure that additional support services are alerted and prepared for subsequent requests."
Ouimet said he met Feb. 5 with road commissioners, paramedics, and the representatives of the county fire departments and the sheriff's department to discuss the matter.
"I was very pleased, the Road Commission passed it in a special session Feb. 8," Ouimet said.
"The Road Commissioners and staff were very supportive of re-evaluating and looking at better ways to secure accident scenes in better fashion."
Although neither the Road Commission nor Ouimet would confirm it, the decision seemed to be prompted by a number of recent tragedies involving icy road conditions and emergency responders.
In the most serious of those, Jackson Community Ambulance paramedic Cheryl Kiefer of Brooklyn was fatally injured Jan. 26 at a crash scene on I-94 west of Chelsea when she was struck by a car that had lost control on the icy road.
In that incident, Michigan State Police troopers noted that there was a significant delay in getting a Road Commission truck to the scene to spread salt and sand on the road to decrease the danger to emergency workers and other motorists.
A nearly identical situation occurred last week east of Chelsea, resulting in injuries to a Jackson-area couple when a car slid off the highway and struck them after their own vehicle had run off the road.
"It was time; we needed to do something," Ouimet said.
Chelsea Area Fire Authority Chief Jim Payeur wholeheartedly agreed.
"It's about time - I don't know what happened for them to change the policy, but I for one am very pleased they did," Payeur said.
"I do think it's going to make a significant difference out there. We should be able to get a truck and salt out there much quicker now."
Dexter Area Fire Chief Loren Yates said although his department does not often respond to calls on the freeway, the procedural change will help in incidents on any county road.
"I think it's a great idea," Yates said. "If they can implement a system where we can get things done easier it's a good thing."
Yates said he's noticed that the problem usually does not occur during business hours, but late at night when staffing is at a minimum.
"We had an incident four or five years ago where we wrecked a couple of trucks on black ice, but once we made the call they were right there," Yates said.
A spokeswoman for Huron Valley Ambulance applauded the change, especially because Kiefer was a member of HVA's Jackson County affiliate.
"We're obviously very pleased," said Joyce Williams, JCA/HVA Public Affairs Manager.
"Any changes that make it easier for fire, police or EMS to get the roads taken care of faster will make it safer for motorists and responders," she added.
"The bottom line is keeping the roads as safe as possible."
Road Commissioner Wes Prater said the clarification was issued to correct "some misinformation going around."
"It was difficult to get it corrected, and we reaffirmed what I believed the policy was," Prater said.
"Commissioner Ouimet brought the subject up at a regular meeting; it was a good thing that he brought it up.
"We're here to provide service, and anything we can do to enhance that service is our goal."
Ouimet said he was "very pleased" the fire chiefs and other emergency responders brought the issue to his attention.
"Even if this is an overreaction, we'd much rather err on the side of safety and do a much better job of keeping our citizens as safe as we can," he said.
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