SPCAD doesn’t have to put up with KC response times

Nine minutes or less.

That’s the amount of time southern Platte Countians should expect to receive emergency assistance from an ambulance. Often times it could be a situation where each passing minute could literally mean the difference between life and death. As important as it is, it’s a standard which is consistently not being met by the Kansas City Fire Department, leaving the board of the Southern Platte County Ambulance District (SPCAD) in recent months no choice but to demand better service or make a change.

For those unfamiliar with SPCAD, it was a board formed in August 2006 to oversee and carry out ambulance services in the increasingly growing areas of unincorporated and rural southern Platte County. It serves all areas outside the city limits of Kansas City including Parkville, Houston Lake, Northmoor, Lake Waukomis, Platte Woods, and Weatherby Lake (District 1) along with Ferrelview and Farley (District 2). The first ambulance service provider for the district was long-time emergency responder, Municipal Ambulance Services Trust (MAST), and provided superior service for the district, reporting response times of nine minutes or less 85-90 percent of the time until 2010.

In 2010, the City of Kansas City decided to merge MAST with the Kansas City Fire Department. It was a controversial decision made by the mayor and city council, opposed by many, including SPCAD board members, but one which left the district with few options other than to contract with the newly merged entity. Since that time, response times within the district have dropped dramatically with only 48 percent of the emergency calls placed from District 1 in the first quarter of 2012 being responded to in nine minutes or less. It’s also important to note, KCFD is reportedly not meeting response times within the actual limits of Kansas City (north or south of the river), either.

Causes for the poor response times include traffic issues, weather conditions, types of calls they don’t include in their service (life alerts or touch technologies), and how much information the dispatcher needs before a unit can respond. Some people believe the main problem is simply the fact that a single ambulance, regularly stationed out of the Price Chopper parking lot in Parkville, can’t effectively service all of southern Platte County. It provides little room for chance, or in one recent case, a GPS error. MAST similarly dealt with these issues, yet met their contract obligations nonetheless.

With an unacceptable level of service, SPCAD board members recently engaged Kansas City Fire Chief Smokey Dyer by demanding response times be improved. Coming off a handful of budget cuts and political setbacks of his own within Kansas City, Dyer does not seem too eager to fix the problem and has only presented two implausible solutions to amending the nearly $39,000 monthly contract to meet MAST performance levels: lowering the coverage period from 24 hours to 12 hours or more than doubling the price of the contract. One will leave southern Platte County without a primary emergency provider 12 hours a day; the other will require an increase in taxes. Neither is acceptable at this point, nor should they be.

Thankfully, SPCAD is not limited to those options alone though. They actually have several options. First, they could contract with another provider, either exclusively or with more than one. There are several area providers credible and qualified enough to exceed KCFD’s performance, which can’t get much worse. Second, the district could create and implement their own ambulance service. Third, SPCAD could continue negotiations with Smokey Dyer hoping an unlikely agreement can be reached resulting in neither a cut in coverage or increase in taxes. Each option comes with a different set of concerns and complexities.

The board members of the ambulance district recognize this isn’t a frivolous political battle, they know their role is to provide a service that ensures lives can be saved. Being a part of a new entity in a fairly unique situation, there are few precedents for them to draw parallels. Unlike areas within the city limits of Kansas City who have no choice but to accept decisions and failures by their elected and bureaucratic leaders, the good thing is south Platte doesn’t have to and likely won’t continue accept sub-par emergency service any longer. It certainly won’t be bullied by someone who’s just walked out of City Hall with their tail between their legs.

Spring roundup: May 14-21

Park Hill and Park Hill South Boys Tennis

…ended their season against Rockhurst in the state sectional round last weekend with a 5-0 loss. In a season where the Trojans found themselves achieving more than expected, Park Hill come into the tournament after winning their sixth district title the week before and knew the deck was stacked against them as the Hawklets. Rockhurst advanced, winning their quarterfinal matchup as well, and moved onto the state final four to be held this weekend.

While the Trojans team season is over, top singles player Michael Jones will be advancing in the individual bracket to the state tournament this coming weekend in Springfield after winning in consecutive sets last week to advance past sectional play. He'll be joined by Park Hill South's Zack Royle who also advanced after clinching a win in consecutive sets of his sectional round appearance last week.

Park Hill Boys Track

…has just barely trailed Liberty all season, having finished second to them in several meets throughout the spring. Saturday’s state sectional track meet at Ray-Pec was no different as the Trojans accumulated 64 team points, a performance placing them in third place behind Liberty and Blue Springs. Park Hill secured two first place finishes, one from Dondrell Hardiman in the 300 hurdles, and the other from Cain Winebrenner in the 800 meter run. 

For Winebrenner, a junior, his trip to state represents the result of a mixture including pure determination and overcoming adversity. After tripping and breaking his clavicle, or collar bone, at the beginning of the season, forcing him to sit out for the better part of two weeks, Winebrenner has mostly been unstoppable the last month having wrapped up first place finishes in the conference, district, and now sectional 800 races.

"What it comes down to is his work ethic because he simply hates to lose," distance coach Jason Parr said. "Him and Joey (Walton) both have a shot at state in the 800 this weekend."

Walton wasn't too far behind Winebrenner as he took second in the 800 along with being a big part of the 4x800 relay team, also featuring Winebrenner, along with Riley Farenholz and Vince Tutorino. Devon Belew in the 400 meter run along with the 4x100 and 4x200 relay teams, took third place finishes. All will be making appearances in the Missouri state track meet this weekend in Jefferson City.

Park Hill Girls Track

….ended their season Saturday with a sixteenth place finish in the Missouri state sectionals. The Trojans earned 11 team points from performances by Kim Rau in the 1600 and 3200 meter runs (6th and 7th), Mercedes Robinson in the 3200 meter run (8^th), and Taylor Cofield in the pole vault and triple jump (7^th). Park Hill was unable to qualify any athletes for the state meet this week.

Park Hill South Boys Track

…had two athletes finish in the top eight at sectionals last weekend. Cody Kildow finished sixth in the discus and Max Rodgers placed sixth in the pole vault. Both came up two places short of advancing to the state track meet.

Park Hill South Girls track

…Morgan Keesee qualified for the state track meet this weekend after finishing third in the discus. Keesee, a sophomore, already set the school record in the shot put earlier this year and heads into state with the seventh best recorded throw in the discus out of the projected field according to coach Andy Keefer. Other top performances from the Panthers were Blake Reser in the triple jump (6^th) and the 4x200 relay team of Jordan Hammond, Sydney Minnis, Chandler Termini, and Blake Reser (8th).

Park Hill South Golf

Nick Schleisman finished out his high school career with a two-round score of 164 (78 & 86) last week at the Class 4 state golf tournament. Schleisman finished 58^th in a field of nearly 90 golfers. Teammate Matt Barry shot a 78 the first day as well, but did not finish his final round.

Park Hill South Girls Soccer

…scorched a path through district play last week as they dominated the Class 3, District 15 tournament with a 9-0 victory over Winnetonka and a 5-0 win over Truman in the championship game. The Panthers advanced onto the Class 3 sectional round Tuesday night where they were taking on District 16 champ Kearney as The Citizen was going to press. The Bulldogs advanced to their matchup Tuesday by beating Liberty in their district title game.

While Park Hill South may feel realized to a certain extent by not having to face Liberty, who has ended their season the last three years, the Panthers have no small task in front of them with Kearney, who is currently 24-2 on the year. The Bulldogs defeated Liberty in penalty kicks, a game which may have been an upset in year’s past, but South coach Joe Toigo doesn’t see it that way.

“That was not really an upset, Kearney is the better team this year. If they were playing last year’s Liberty team that is an upset,” Toigo said. “We will have our hands full. They possess the ball very well and do not give up many goals.”

Courtney Claasen will lead a Panther offense with 31 goals and 16 assists on the year. South came into Tuesday’s game with an 18-4-2 record on the year.