The city of Sedgwick will have a city-run EMS service for the first time since 2017. City leaders made the decision to give up their certificate to run EMS services because they were not getting enough volunteers. This meant the closest ambulance was coming 15 minutes down the road from Halstead. The city’s new EMS director believes having in-service in the city limits once again will get them under the five-minute response requirement by the state of Kansas. Sedgwick’s officials made the decision to start stockpiling funds yearly from 2017. Now, they have roughly $500,000 to launch the new department. Having Halstead run the operation for the past several years cost roughly $200,000 yearly. The new department’s first year in business will cost $400,000, including the ability to pay five full-time employees and 20-30 part-time employees. “We’re in a perfect financial place as a city paid this year, we had two bond notes paid off, and we had an increased evaluation, and so we were able to actually start this service without impacting the mill levy,” said City Administrator Kyle Nordick. Nordick said their community is deserving of the move.
Source: KSN-TV
