WEST BEND, Wis. — All across the U.S., there are volunteer fire departments and emergency medical service teams trying to find more workers and more funding.
That’s why two neighboring communities in southeast Wisconsin — West Bend and Kewaskum — are joining forces for emergency response.
The Village of Kewaskum is known for its robust volunteer fire department. Fire Chief Mark Groeschel has been with the department since the late 1970s and has served as fire chief for more than 30 years. He said this department is a part of who he is, but he also acknowledged the challenges of the job.
“On the EMS side, it’s just been a struggle,” he said.
Over time, the need in the area has grown, and calls for service have increased. This has made it harder for Groeschel to find enough volunteers to staff an ambulance service 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
The Kewaskum Fire Department has nearly 50 first responders on staff. However, not all the volunteer firefighters are trained Emergency Medical Services (EMS) workers.
Groeschel said it’s been increasingly difficult to recruit more.
“We’ve been struggling for quite a few years, and it just finally came to a head,” Groeschel said. “We started looking into different ways of doing it, possibly starting an EMS district. Then, we started talking to West Bend.”
The City of West Bend is about 15 minutes south of Kewaskum. It has a fire department that is full-time, meaning firefighters and EMTs are paid.
West Bend city and public safety leaders approved a collaboration to take over Kewaskum’s ambulance service. While the specific details have not been made public, West Bend will take over ambulance service for Kewaskum on Jan. 1, 2025.
“We’ve got a commitment to work collaboratively on a plan that not only meets the needs of both communities, but is sustainable in the long run,” said West Bend Fire Chief Les Norin, who pointed out that the two departments work together all the time on mutual aid calls.
On average, West Bend Fire responds to 3,000 EMS calls each year. Kewaskum Fire responds to more than 500. Norin said they are prepared to take on those hundreds of extra calls.
To better meet the need, he’s looking to fill nine open positions within the West Bend Fire Department.
Meanwhile, Groeschel said Kewaskum residents should remain confident that they are fully protected. Kewaskum firefighters and EMTs will still respond to medical calls and provide the same service. They just will no longer be in charge of ambulance transport when a patient needs to be taken to a hospital. Instead, those ambulance runs will be done by West Bend.
In terms of response times, Groeschel said nothing should change with ambulances coming from West Bend. He said Kewaskum volunteer medics get an emergency call and must drive from their homes to the fire station, and then to the site of the emergency. That average response time is eight to 15 minutes. West Bend is less than 15 minutes south of Kewaskum.
While Groeschel said he’s thankful to have a solution like this, he also admitted it’s not an easy transition for him. Ambulance services have been part of the Kewaskum Fire Department since the 1940s, and this will be a big change.
He said this is a way to adjust to the times, and create a more sustainable emergency service model for the community.