THE BRIGHT SIDE
Walworth County fire and emergency medical services (EMS) face systemic challenges related to staffing, funding, and the coordination across its 15 separate departments.
Fire and emergency medical services responders in Walworth County face challenges with staffing their agencies, especially because some of the county’s smaller departments still rely on a volunteer model that has become increasingly difficult to sustain. Departments struggle with limited finances (partially due to strict property tax levy limits) to cover soaring costs for new fire apparatus, ambulances, and station renovations. Referendums for increased funding have seen mixed results across municipalities.
Several fire and EMS departments in Walworth County have already taken proactive steps to address their operational challenges, such as collaborating with neighboring departments or adding full-time staff. Yet some difficulties remain, which prompted Walworth County to commission the Forum to conduct this analysis of fire and EMS service provision in the county. Heightened collaboration or consolidation among the 15 departments that currently serve the county might help alleviate these issues and might also improve service quality, a new Wisconsin Policy Forum report finds.
Recommendations include formal cooperative agreements, sharing vehicles and equipment, joint purchasing, and cross-credentialing of staff. For example, the Lake Geneva Fire Department recently expanded support for the Town of Linn to help cut response times. Walworth County is expected to see a small decline in overall population over the next 15 years. However, its senior population is growing, and based on this and other factors, including the large numbers of visitors who frequent parts of the county during the summer months, most of the county’s agencies should be preparing for steady or modestly higher call volumes.
A number of the county’s smaller departments use a paid-on-call (POC) or volunteer staffing model, which department officials generally acknowledge may become unsustainable over the long term. Staff recruitment and retention are challenges for larger departments, though smaller departments that use POC and volunteer personnel typically see greater challenges. Departments compete with other agencies across southeast Wisconsin for paramedics in particular. Capital needs are another major challenge.
Not only are most departments facing steep vehicle replacement costs in the near future, but many may lack the financial capacity to undertake these replacements. Also, some departments are planning station renovations or replacements and are exploring financing options. The county has been actively working on improving emergency preparedness plans, including a debris management plan for large-scale emergencies and updating its disaster recovery plan.
