KRONENWETTER, Wis. (WSAW) – Kronenwetter’s ambulance proposal is setting off alarm bells. The community wants to know what to do next and how to address some challenges in the emergency medical services industry.

Now the village is receiving help from the Wisconsin Office of Rural Health.

Jim Small, program manager for rural EMS outreach, is convinced this proposal can work.

For Small, the prices and data points seem to make sense for what Kronenwetter needs, but there are some details that need further thought through by all parties involved.

The ambulance proposal submitted by the village of Kronenwetter calls for two state-of-the-art paramedic ambulances, but they cost $711,000 in equipment and personnel to keep them running.

Although Small is convinced that the idea is feasible, he says it will be difficult to find people to operate these ambulances.

“Especially in voluntary systems, you need a large number of people to provide 17,520 hours of coverage each year, and that is the minimum. The basic number is two people 24 hours a day,” he said.

One solution to this problem is to make Kronenwetter a full-time fire department. However, this does not mean that costs will go down.

“The system could go from half a million dollars to a million dollar system in such a short period of time because a very large portion of the cost is personnel,” Small said.

Small also said that Kronenwetter is the only municipality he knows of that is actively striving to have its own rescue service. Cooperation with other municipalities might work better.

“If you work together and bring the workforce together and raise some of the funds, you can really do outstanding things at a cost that is affordable for the community,” Small explains.

He added that supplies will likely be an issue for Crown Weather. Trying to do it alone may not meet state standards for adequate supplies, and there are some communities in the Northwoods with volunteer services that are struggling to make things work.

“It’s still expensive, but since all four operate independently, their service should be much more reliable,” Small said. “Each of these volunteer-based services struggles to provide 24-hour coverage.”

Kronenwetter’s current contract with the Riverside Fire Department expires in 2025. Before anything is done, Small says the next step is for the township to have further discussions with Riverside.

“What is the status of that service and what needs to be done to maintain that service or what should that look like in the future? We just need to have those discussions up front and not wait until there is a crisis,” he said.

A meeting on the ambulance proposal will be held at the community center on Monday evening to discuss which two trustees should be sent to Riverside to gather more information before any further decisions are made.

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