Door County will not be using American Medical Response to evaluate its EMS operations. What was under consideration was only an examination by AMR of the department's practices, especially billing. County Administrator Ken Pabich was the main proponent of the study. His presentation early in the meeting showed a sharp rise in expenditures since 2015 because costs had been deferred or improperly capitalized.
Supervisor Jon Koch was outspoken against the study, citing its $7,500 price tag. He argued that several past studies had covered the issues AMR could research. The most recent review was an ad hoc committee in 2015. With a new contract just ratified, labor costs are fixed for the near future. Door County EMS currently operates a two paramedic system and, while waivers from Wisconsin DHS are available to switch to one paramedic/one assistant EMT operations, the state has never granted one solely because of cost.
