On Tuesday, outgoing Wood County Sheriff Tom Reichert officially discontinued the Wood County Volunteer Rescue Squad.
A message posted to the Wood County Sheriff’s Rescue Department page stated Tuesday: “What does this mean for you county citizens? ‘Rescue’ will not be responding to car accidents for extrication, scene and traffic safety. Will not be responding to PROJECT LIFESAVER. Will not be responding to water rescues. Of the many things ‘Rescue’ does, these are just a few. Your lives, safety, your loved ones are now less protected. ‘Rescue’ is a completely volunteer department. Unlike most volunteer departments that are paid per call, ‘Rescue’ is 100% volunteer. The members train weekly to provide some of the best services in the area.”
The elimination officially began at the October 8, 2018 Wood County Public Safety Committee meeting, when Supervisor Jason Zaleski made the motion, seconded by Dennis Polach, to move forward with the original budget proposal which included the elimination of the Wood County Rescue Squad. The motion carried unanimously.
“The Rescue Squad didn’t cover the whole County, and other municipalities, cities, villages in the County. Due to other technical advancements or other training they have received, they are able to accomplish the same thing without that device,” said Zaleski. “With all those things being considered, I made the motion that you read about.”
A dedicated group of 27 volunteer adults, the squad provide rescue services for and under the direction of the Wood County Sheriff’s Department. Providing service 24-hours per day, 365 days per year, the members are non-paid professional volunteers who respond primarily to incidents in South Wood County. Members are certified First Responders or Emergency Medical Technicians who are paged to provide rescue services, and are trained in diving and ice diving rescue, water rescue, snowmobile and boating rescue, high level and low angle rescue, search and rescue, and crime scene containment.
They also provide the following, according to their website:
• Medical skills and extra manpower as needed by the department
• Medical care, extrication, and traffic control at motor vehicle accidents
• Medical care, extrication, and assistance for farm accidents
• Medical care, extrication, and assistance for industrial accidents
• Water rescue and recovery for drowning and swift-water incidents
• High-Level and Low-Angle rescue for confined space incidents
• Search and rescue operations for lost persons
• Crime scene containment as directed by the department
• Any other response as directed by the department
Current Squad Director Mike Wiberg has been a volunteer with the Rescue Squad for 24 years, and was upset to learn the news on Tuesday that the squad was being eliminated.
“I was told by my supervisors that as of Tuesday night, rescue is no longer to respond and within the next seven days, everyone must return equipment,” he said. “I respect Tom’s authority and understand that every place has had budget problems and is trying to save money. I’ve been a member for a long time and none of us do this to make money. People do it to help their community and obviously I’m prejudiced, but when they say they are going to cut it due to budget restraints, it upsets you.”
Not only does Wiberg have years of fond memories with the rescue squad, he also has a lot invested.
“We are literally 100% volunteer. You have to buy your own steel toed shoes, clothing, we drive our own vehicles to a scene,” he said. “When rescue started, they saw a need because nobody had certain tools. There are a few guys who got together, got a station wagon, and started going to car accidents.”
Since 9/11, the federal government has provided more equipment to fire and rescue departments at no cost to the taxpayer. As a result, area volunteer stations have been able to acquire duplicate equipment. With this in mind, in recent years the squad has invested in different equipment.
“We’ve got some specialized equipment that others don’t have,” said Wiberg. “We try to buy stuff that other departments don’t have, but we make them available for them.”
The program also offers a platform for aspiring paramedics, first responders, and EMT’s to train, and supplies several unique services, such as dive evidence and body discovery, traffic control assistance, and other public safety-related tasks to the department.
The Squad operates on a $10,300 budget, with gas and maintenance coming from other budgets. Donations are also a significant source of financing. Wiberg said the group’s newest large piece of equipment – a 2010 pickup truck – was purchased partially through donations.
“In the grand scheme of things, do I think this decision is going to save Wood County significant money? No,” he said. “Why would you pick a volunteer group, that in the grand scheme of things, to me is pretty cheap.”
A group that’s often “out of sight, out of mind,” Wiberg hopes that the community sees the value in the group and reaches out to express their opinion.
“If people want us to be around, they have to start calling their County representatives,” said Wiberg.
Update – November 22 – As of press time yesterday, Sheriff Tom Reichert had not responded with comments for the story. He did so now and we have added those here.
OnFocus: What prompted the decision to eliminate the Rescue Squad?
Sheriff Tom Reichert: The decision to eliminate the Wood County Rescue Squad was a business decision. The Rescue Squad serves only a limited number of south Wood County townships. In each of these townships their services are duplicated by the local fire departments and first responders. I don’t think all the taxpayers of Wood County should have to pay for a service to only a few people. Plus it is distinctly a duplication of existing services. No one will suffer a loss of any service with the discontinuation of the Squad.
OnFocus: What are the financial savings of eliminating the Rescue Squad?
Reichert: The budget impact will be approximate savings of $30,000 directly from the discontinuation plus addition revenues to the Sheriff’s Department of about $150,000 when equipment is liquidated.
OnFocus: Anything else you’d like to add?:
Reichert: The volunteers of the Squad have done a marvelous job for Wood County over the years and I truly appreciate their service to Wood County.
Response from local fire departments – click here.
