Public addresses concerns with fire chief and the board

SEELEY LAKE – At their Aug. 18 meeting, the Seeley Lake Fire Board hosted more than 25 members of the public who voiced their concerns, frustrations and praise for the Department.

Prior to opening the meeting for public comment, Board Chair Scott Kennedy read a letter from the board that addressed concerns brought up by Alyssa McLean at the July meeting.

Regarding the Fire District employee that contacted McLean’s supervisor, Kennedy said Chief Dave Lane will address the situation since it was a personnel issue.

Kennedy said there is no pending lawsuit for embezzlement within the District or regarding the district administrator.

Kennedy denied any HIPAA violation as assumed by the comment regarding a “chairman scuffle.” He detailed the event that occurred at a local business. He said in his 40 years as a volunteer fire and medical provider or as an elected official he has never been targeted with extreme profanity, threats, assault and intimidation as he, his finance and friends were that night.

Kennedy said he spoke to the Chief regarding the speeding allegations through the north end of town on Highway 83 while responding to a call. It was posted on social media that Lane was driving 70 miles per hour. Lane told him there was no contact made with him on the issue and the incident was never reported to law enforcement.

Kennedy said the Department has a social media policy for professionalism. While citizens do have the right to public comment, opinion and different political views, posting derogatory, untrue information, unwarranted allegations or correspondence in an effort to undermine the Department is harmful to the citizens of Seeley Lake.

“These direct social media posts are unwarranted, slanderous, a death threat, apparently still happens from past individuals and their anonymous spokespeople who choose to remain anonymous,” said Kennedy. “This undermines your current services and future volunteers, employers and staff. ”

McLean responded to the board comment clarifying that her post regarding the fire chief was on her personal page, that has privacy settings. She added she has nothing to do with the “Did You Know” Facebook page.

“I think I’m seen like this evil pariah that is going to swoop in and try and take people’s jobs and change things,” said McLean. “That is just not what it is about. What it is about is my loved ones having major experiences that they believe that they were wronged. Yes, you’re right I wasn’t there but they are my loved ones and I tend to believe them, just like you believe yours. I wouldn’t even have been involved if [the district employee] hadn’t called my boss.”

Business owners on the north end of Highway 83 who were in attendance confirmed McLean’s allegation of Lane going through town at a high rate of speed. They said it wasn’t safe and luckily it wasn’t congested.

Rudi Mauldin, former firefighter and EMT with Frenchtown Fire, spoke about two accidents he witnessed the Department’s response - one was when his wife Janeen was involved in a head-on collision Jan. 7 and the other was the fatal motorcycle wreck near Rice Ridge Road July 13.

“What troubled me the most with both of those was nothing was being done,” said Mauldin. “We always have to remember our basic A, B, C – airway, breathing, circulation. You’ve got to keep these people alive and you’ve got to get a baseline when you get on scene. How do you keep an eye on what’s going on if you don’t have a baseline [blood pressure]?”

Janeen said the reason she called her husband was because no one was helping her even though she repeatedly asked Lane to get her out. She claimed Lane did not look to see that she had a broken leg, even though the bone was coming out the side of her leg. In the ambulance she told him to cut her boot off, instead he pulled her boot off “and I screamed.”

Lane addressed Janeen. He said he was sorry that she and her husband have the perception that he did nothing and they didn’t recognize that she was getting the care that she deserved. He is a paramedic with more than two years of training beyond an EMT. She was not the only patient on the scene and he went to her first. He talked to her, asked her where her injuries were and checked her pulse.

“At that point, I knew that you had your ABCs as your husband stated,” said Lane. “I don’t need a blood pressure cuff, I don’t need a monitor, I did it that quick. I can assure you, using my training, I don’t need to do all those things to measure the ABCs.”

Because there were multiple patients, Lane went back and forth between the two.

“I was doing the best I could for multiple people. You did get good care, you did get the treatment,” said Lane. “I did talk to you in the back of the ambulance about your boot…I’m sorry if I didn’t do what you told me to do.”

Mauldin described the scene of the motorcycle accident. While Mauldin was assisting with the driver, it appeared as though no one was providing care to the wife. She told Mauldin she thought she had a broken arm and asked if he had any ice. When he asked a member of the Department, he was told, “We are out in the middle of nowhere. We don’t have ice out here.” He questioned why the ambulance doesn’t carrying ice packs.

Mauldin said on a scene where there are multiple patients there is a reason to transfer patients to another ambulance because Lane is the only Advanced Life Support (ALS) provider. If Lane is in charge of the scene, he can’t keep track of everything and use his knowledge as a paramedic to help a patient.

Volunteer and board member Rita Rossi said she has been on many calls with Lane and he is professional and never appears in a hurry because he is taking in the whole scene.

“If people would come to him with problems or questions, he’ll sit down and talk to you,” said Rossi. “He is easy to talk to.”

Lane’s wife Lorraine spoke about the “Did You Know?” Facebook page. While the administrator is anonymous, she assumes it is a woman because it is filled with drama. She felt it should be renamed “You got it wrong” because of all the inaccuracies.

The page talks about how great the Fire Department was, critiques the Chief and volunteers and bashes decisions without ever talking to the Department or Lane to get the facts and general spreads hate and discontent.

To help the public understand more about her husband, Lorainne said Lane has been doing this job for 35 years and she has been by his side for 10 years. She has never seen him panic. She said when he responds to a scene he remains calm, cool and collected.

“At no time in his time at Seeley Lake has he come across a call that would ‘heighten his emotion,’” said Lorraine.

Lorraine attested to the fact that he runs calls at all hours of the day and night and has run 78% of all the calls. When a call is a Basic Life Support (BLS) call, which is most of the time, volunteers are trained to care for patients all the way to the hospital and there is no need for them to hand off a patient to MESI in the middle of the highway.

“That is poor patient care to hand over your patient,” said Lorraine. “It is not safe for the crew or the patient.”

She highlighted that the Seeley Lake Department is a BLS service and taxes paid only cover fire response not medical services.

Lorainne addressed the accusation that Lane is not a proficient wildland firefighter. She highlighted that he has been member of a Type I National Incident Management Team that could have come in and taken care of the Rice Ridge fire.

According to Lane’s introductory article run in the Pathfinder’s May 10, 2018 issue, he spent seven years with the Eastern Great Basin Type I Incident Management Team as the Medical Unit Leader.

Lorainne said Lane has brought in more than $100,000 in grants to the Department in the past two years. She pointed out the state-of-the-art exhaust system and the upgrades to the bays to those in attendance and listed off many of the equipment upgrades that had been done.

She closed by calling those posting on the “Did You Know” page pathetic. “Be part of the solution, not the problem.”

Cristine Matheny spoke about her daughter’s accident in 2018 where she was involved in a head-on collision while going around Salmon Lake. She said she was concerned that Lane, as the paramedic on scene, never checked her daughter out physically or talked to her to assess her mental condition. Matheny’s daughter signed the paperwork declining further treatment and the volunteer told her if she felt worse or anything changed, she needed to seek medical care.

Matheny met with the Chief following the call telling him about the volunteer texting someone in the community regarding the accident. She felt this was inappropriate. She also asked if the chemicals from the air bag could be what was making her daughter cough so hard she would puke. She said Lane assured her that they were environmentally friendly and was certain it couldn’t have been from the air bag. When she took her daughter in to the doctor, her throat was scalded and had blisters from aspirating the chemicals.

Matheny said she is concerned that quality of care issues are not being addressed. She also felt the Chief should have given her a follow up regarding her complaint with the volunteer.

Another concern voiced by members of the public was the change in dispatching procedures with MESI and Life Flight.

First, the department always says they are short on responders. If the “best people” are on the first call, what happens when the second call comes in and those people are transporting another patient? Isthe Department more focused on the dollar sign versus patient care?

Second, the change in dispatch that has Life Flight on stand by instead of automatically flying creates a lag time. If Life Flight waits until the volunteers get on scene and request them, this takes more time in a situation where seconds matter.

Barbara Beery, who lost her husband in the spring of 2019, spoke to the board calling the Chief out on his quote that was printed in the paper last week that “no patient has ever suffered.” “Tell that to my deceased husband,” said Beery.

Beery said had MESI not come up here, her husband Nick would have died on the way to town. The volunteers that showed up admitted they didn’t know what they were doing and the Chief did not respond.

“You people didn’t show up,” said Beery. “We need MESI and we need Life Flight to come up here. We can’t depend on this department alone.”

Beery said she came to the board 16 months ago when this happened hoping for some kind of change and to inform the community.

“My husband isn’t the first one to pass away and he’s not going to be the last. This is not an isolated incident and you guys haven’t done anything about it,” said Beery. “I don’t think one person should have the power to go and say how you want your loved one transported.”

Lane responded to the quote Beery referred to, “My intent was not to say he didn’t suffer. My intent was to say he didn’t suffer because of our actions.“

McLean highlighted that the comments shared showed her issues were not an isolated incident. She hopes that the Chief and the board will show some humility and seek people out as professionals and address concerns that they hear.

“Let’s be more human to each other,” said McLean. “I won’t post on Facebook. I will keep that opinion to myself because I’m going to trust the board to do whatever action has to be acted upon regarding any instance.”

Fire Captain Michael Richards responded to a public comment saying there were no landing zones for Life Flight in the area. Richards said there were five designated landing zones for the District and they can make a zone when needed for remote calls.

“These volunteers that come here work hard, train hard and try to respond to the calls that they can,” said Richards. “They are doing the best that they can for this town. We care about out community and we care enough that we have the ability to take our patients into town. Let us run the department, just help us. Be open minded, listen a little bit and if you have a question just ask.”

While many concerns were brought up, other members of the public thanked the volunteers and the Department.

A couple from Seeley Lake spoke. She was given a choice of whether to send her husband with Life Flight or via ambulance. She chose Life Flight and credits Lane’s actions for keeping him alive. He thanked them for all they did for him and appreciated the opportunity to thank the Department in person.

A new resident to the area who came just to get more information about the Fire Department spoke up in support of the volunteers. She proposed the solution that maybe the community would fund another paramedic if they are concerned about the quality of care they are receiving.

Following public comment, Lane reported they have had 42 calls in July which is down from 55 in 2019. Total calls through July in 2019 was 187. This year it is down to 162 calls. Lane said the Department averages around 320 calls per year.

Lane said they have approximately 13 EMTs on the department. The Pathfinder asked for the exact number following the meeting. Three EMTs have recently left the Department. One moved and the reason for the other two was not disclosed. Currently on the roster, there are nine EMTs and Lane who is a paramedic and the only ALS provider on the Department. Lane said four EMTs just finished their endorsement classes and two others are getting ready to take their endorsement classes. They also have two new members working through their entry level task book and one is already an EMT.

The board approved the job description for the maintenance manager position. The deadline to apply is Sept. 25 and the application can be found on the District website seeleyfire.org.

The next regular board meeting is scheduled for Sept. 15 at 6 p.m. at the Fire Hall.