EMS director, track owners to meet
Staff writer
Marion County Emergency Services Director Steve Smith pledged June 22 that he and Shelly Hardey would meet before Hardey left on vacation in July. His goal is to resolve the emergency medical technician situation at Green Acres motocross racetrack near Marion.
Smith is most concerned that the county emergency medical technician working privately for the racetrack was susceptible to lawsuit. Three injured riders June 19, including two with concussion symptoms, declined being transported by ambulance to St. Luke Hospital against the EMT’s advice.
Hardey said June 21 that she and her husband, Ron, want the safest environment possible for motocross riders competing at the track they own. This included the option of hiring a county ambulance crew to stand by at the track.
Smith said he had communicated to Hardey the cost of keeping an ambulance at the track. He also said that the ambulance must be able to respond to an emergency elsewhere.
“They’re running it on a real tight budget,” Smith said. “We’d have to sit down and work that out.”
An alternative to that option would be Green Acres structuring a system of paper work similar to what EMTs write when they are working for the county. EMTs must fill out detailed accounts of every call. Smith believes detailed accounts of accidents at Green Acres would limit the liability of EMTs working at the track. Smith suggested taking the county forms and restructuring them with Hardey to fit the track’s particular needs.
“It’s something we’re going to fix within the next couple of weeks,” Smith said.