The Seeley Lake Rural Fire District Board caught up on expenses and other happenings at the department, but some actions were hindered because of accounting errors discovered during its Nov. 21 meeting. The board also heard from a citizen concerned with patient care.
The fire board did not meet in October, so the meeting was to approve expenses for the last two months. The board approved the September expenses, which reached over $70,000. That money paid for a new type one fire truck and new extraction tools.
The October expenses, closer to a normal amount for the district, was tabled for the next meeting because of line items duplicated on the expense sheet. Fire Chief Dave Lane said the department has had an issue with glitches in the software it uses.
During public comment, a member of the public asked the board what the rules are for taking care of a person who needs medical attention. She said there was a rescue call at someone’s home, and at some point someone took the person to Missoula.
She was concerned that a private citizen would get into trouble if they took a person to the hospital and something happened. She then added that this scenario happened in real life earlier in the week. The Pathfinder did not get her name by press time.
“The rescue people have been there, and assessed the patient,” she said, adding that a private citizen later took the patient to the hospital, but the specifics were left out and left the room with some confusion.
Board member Susan Monahan disputed the process, as the Seeley Lake Quick Response Unit would take a patient to the hospital if there is a need to transport. Lane added that a refusal by the patient is allowed, but they must sign a form to refuse the service.
“If she or he says ‘yes I would like to be transported,’ then we take them,” Lane said. “If they say no I don’t want to be transported, then we have them sign a refusal paper.”
He added that if a person changes their mind after emergency responders have left, then emergency responders would not be involved. No other details were shared about the incident.
Later in the meeting, Lane shared that the department’s call volume has actually decreased over the last few months. The Pathfinder reported in June that the fire department was on track to respond to a record number of calls.
Lane said both September and October had fewer calls than last year. There is not a main reason why the call volume has decreased, but some board members and the public floated the possibility of the Colt Fire limiting the number of people in the Seeley Lake area.
The board will meet again next month on Dec. 19 to approve the October financials and continue discussing call volume.
Reader Comments(0)