Monday, May 6, 2013
While Wauwatosa Fire Department officials say they have no problems with how ambulances are inspected, others raise concerns that some ambulances in Wisconsin just shouldn't be on the road.
Ten years ago, the lives of an ambulance crew in central Wisconsin were changed forever when a balding tire caused their vehicle to lose traction on a wet highway, skid across the median and roll over. In the resulting accident, the patient being transported died and the crew was injured, none more so than Matt Deicher of Mosinee. “I flew and hit my face onto the back doors of the ambulance,” Deicher told WISN 12 News. Deicher was paralyzed. He believes the July 2003 accident could have been prevented "very, very easily." Just two days earlier, the lone state ambulance inspector gave the Mosinee Fire Department 10 days to replace balding tires on the vehicle. The crew was unaware of the report before the run. A decade later, not much has …
What's the average number of miles that ambulances in your community have on them? How many need to be replaced? Find out by searching for Patch's interactive database for information on ambulance fleets from local departments.
Patch surveyed fire departments throughout the metro Milwaukee area to learn more about their ambulance fleets. Use our searchable database to get information about the age, mileage and conditions of ambulances in your community.
Friday, July 13, 2012
Victim had to be extracted from SUV knocked over in a collision in the middle of busy Mayfair and North.
Busy morning traffic was rerouted in two directions Friday at North Mayfair Road and West North Avenue after a two-vehicle collision that left a woman trapped in her tipped SUV. Firefighters were able to extract the woman within about 15 to 20 minutes after the 8:29 a.m. accident. The woman, whom police and fire officials have not yet identified, was able to walk to a stretcher on her own but was taken to the hospital. Lt. Gerald Witkowski said the woman suffered a minor injury to her arm. The SUV remained on its side in the middle of the southbound lanes of Mayfair Road, while the sedan that struck it, with major front-end damage, sat in the eastbound lanes of North Avenue. Traffic in both those directions was rerouted. A witness told …
Wednesday, February 1, 2012
Police irritated by man's chronic 911 calls for help in recovering his cell phone.
- POLICE & FIRE
- Jim Price
-
Wednesday, February 1, 2012
Whenever anyone calls 911, police, firefighters — or both — are obliged to respond, taking them away from other duties for the duration of the incident. So Wauwatosa authorities are getting more than a bit tired of a Wauwatosa man who seems to think the emergency number amounts to a personal taxi service. According to police reports: At 1:18 a.m. Sunday, a 34-year-old Wauwatosa man was issued a citation — not his first — at his home in the 10700 block of West Keefe Avenue for misuse of the 911 emergency number. The man had called 911 two hours earlier requesting transport to St. Joseph’s Hospital in Milwaukee for back pain. Both police officers and Fire Department paramedics responded, and he was taken to St. Joseph’s. After he returned …
43.08212
-88.04587
10700 W Keefe Ave, Wauwatosa, WI
Resident in this block misuses 911 in non-emergencies
/articles/911-30157062
/locations/6298342
Monday, November 28, 2011
Gift puts life-saving device in one more emergency response vehicle, but more are needed.
- POLICE & FIRE
- Jim Price
-
Monday, November 28, 2011
The first time they met, Meg McKenna, executive director of the Wauwatosa Chamber of Commerce, told Rob Ugaste, who took over as Wauwatosa fire chief early this year, that if his department had any unbudgeted needs she should let him know and she would let the community know. He did, she did, and now the good people of Luther Manor Senior Living Community have come through. On Ugaste's wish list was to have Fire Department "pool" vehicles equipped with automated external defibrillators (AEDs). While firefighting and ambulance units have these life-saving devices, a pool vehicle used by a staff member such as a paramedic or EMT on or off duty might be first on a scene and have the best opportunity to help someone in need. David Keller, the…
Monday, September 26, 2011
What Chris Abele calls 'out-of-date' subsidies, Chief Ugaste sees as critical line of defense in saving lives.
Wauwatosa Fire Chief Rob Ugaste was a paramedic for 25 years of his firefighting career and knows the value of EMS – Emergency Medical Services. A fire department gets far more medical calls than it does fire alarms, and each one of those calls presents a likelihood of saving someone in a life-threatening situation. So it's no surprise that Ugaste is alarmed by Milwaukee County Executive Chris Abele's proposal to cut $3 million in support for paramedic service to municipalities. Abele last week announced that he plans to end payments to local fire departments for paramedic service as part of his 2012 budget. Those subsidies to public safety have been in place since 1975. The move is driven by a $55 million budget shortfall facing Milwaukee…
Thursday, June 9, 2011
City janitor had a hand in saving Illinois man, as he held the key to life-saving equipment.
- POLICE & FIRE
- Jim Price
-
Thursday, June 9, 2011
Saturday morning was hot and muggy, and Hart Park was full of people dancing, performing feats of strength and wheezing into bagpipes at the Scottish Fest Highland Games – many of them wearing wool clothing. It seems that something was almost bound to happen. Jim Fork was doing his normal duty on an abnormal day as one of three city custodians who maintain the park from dawn until after dark seven days a week. On Saturdays, "I'm the only person on the grounds from 8 until 4," Fork said. "We're involved with all facets of the park, many that go beyond the janitorial. And I guess I encountered one of those last Saturday." Fork was inside the Muellner Building, walking up the hallway toward the custodians' office to get a drink, when he ran …
Rees Roberts
3:38 pm on Tuesday, May 7, 2013
Anyone who has been following the South Shore Ambulance situation knows they have already broken down while in service. I'm was merely pointing out the obvious. They need to be replaced before someone sues the Village because someone died waiting for a new one to arrive. It's ridiculous that they haven't been yet. more ›