Oconomowoc reports increase in ambulance, fire calls

Population increase could be the cause

Waukesha Freeman, January 5, 2007

By JODY L. MAYERS
Freeman Staff

OCONOMOWOC Oconomowoc Fire Department volunteer Ryan Schmitz said being involved in the department is in his blood.

I just love it, the 21-year old said. I would like to become fulltime ... with this department or any other.

Lately, there is plenty to keep Schmitz and other fire department members busy. In 2006, the department reported a 7.9 percent increase in ambulance calls from the previous year and an 11.3 percent increase in fire calls from its five-year average and thats even though the area in which the department responds has shrunk.

About two years ago, Sullivan, which we used to cover, ended up providing its own ambulance service to the community, Oconomowoc Deputy Fire Chief Glenn Leidel said. We had expected our own numbers to decrease some because of that, but that was not the case.

Because the Oconomowoc area is growing at a steadfast rate. Leidel said the numbers of service calls reflect that as well.

More people in the area translates to more traffic incidences, trauma and fire calls, he said.

Schmitz said he was a little nervous when he took his first EMS call but quickly got over it at the scene.

Its a weird feeling. I cant really explain it, to have someones life in your hands like that, he said. You just do what you have to do at the time, and then when its over, you kind of step back and think, Wow. I cant believe I just did that. I couldnt be happier when Im doing this.

Leidel said the backbone of the fire department is in the dedicated men and women who swap their personal time in return for something tangible, such as hands-on training, drills and life-saving exercises that increase their capabilities for more extensive calls in the future.

The service that this community receives is exceptional, he said. Most people think we have a fulltime staff here, and we dont. We only have three full-time employees, and the rest are made up of 50 paid on-call members, 41 firefighting personnel, 31 who are trained as EMTs. Our strength is in our force. It gives me affirmation that the good people in this world still outweigh the bad.

The most common EMS calls the department receives about three each day are from elderly residents.

By far, our most common call is for EMS, Leidel said. Four out of five calls are for an ambulance, but our calls do run the full gamut of variety. I dont think anyone does it for the money.

Schmitz certainly doesnt. A volunteer with the department for just over a year, he can be found on any given day cleaning the fire and ambulance vehicles, eager for a call.

I love serving and helping out my community, he said.

Leidel has been with the department for more than 30 years. He used to think 700 calls a year was a lot. Now were looking at 1,372 for this year (2006) as an estimate, he said. Thats pretty big. At an average rate of $440 to $500 per call, the EMS remains a nonprofit organization, as it was when it started in 1977.

We dont receive any tax support from the city in any way, so we are reliant on user fees, Leidel said. Our fees are right around the upper third of what most other jurisdictions are charging in their community.