Jul. 19—Cass County Emergency Medical Services is entering into a new agreement with Indiana University Health Arnett Hospital in Lafayette. Cass County EMS was previously contracted with Franciscan Health Crown Point as its sponsoring hospital.
Sponsoring hospitals and physicians provide oversight and advisement to EMS departments. Cass County EMS Director Brady Wiles asked the county commissioners to approve the change at the July 18 commissioners meeting.
"The contract with Franciscan Crown Point is terminated as of August 10, so we're looking to approve sponsoring hospital to IU Arnett and a medical director contract with Dr. Nate Marcinkowski from IU Health," Wiles said.
Commissioners Ruth Baker and Ryan Browning were both present at the meeting and voted in favor of the change.
Other topics at the commissioners meeting included changes to security at the courthouse and EMA updates on resource organization, resource development, and training opportunities.
Cass County Sheriff Ed Schroder asked the commissioners to allow him to assign a deputy over security at the county government building.
"The current courthouse security director resigned," Schroder said. "There's been a bit of discussion right now. That was a completely separate agency within the county that answered to the commissioners. What we're looking at is moving that into the sheriff's office and then putting a full-time deputy in the courthouse to run courthouse security in conjunction with the part-time security officers so that we get consistency and continuity."
Schroder added that the move makes sense because the sheriff's office gives security officers training and limited law enforcement authority. He asked for permission to hire an additional deputy to oversee courthouse security.
Browning asked for confirmation that Schroder plans to have a deputy with full arrest powers in the county building from Monday to Friday. Schroder answered affirmatively, and both Browning and Baker approved Schroder's request.
Cass County Emergency Management Agency Director Rocky Buffum updated the commissioners on progress toward finishing the county's emergency operation center. He said the agency is currently waiting for Information Technology to wrap up the finishing touches.
Buffum said the EMA's warehouse project is also nearing completion, but the backup dispatch center is still in progress. He said additional radio antennae and other equipment have been mounted around the facility.
"This makes it a more complete backup system," he said. "If it just routed to the primary system and it was a tower issue, both the primary and secondary sites would be down. We've got some more cable and wiring. Once we finish this next part, it becomes a dispatch and IT issue to get all the licenses for software and that kind of thing."