New devices sought to improve rural Cole County EMS service

Each Cole County EMS ambulance is equipped with a wireless router and antenna apparatus that allows the crew to access the internet and essential systems on the go. Those routers also broadcast every ambulances’ GPS location to dispatch.

But what if a router loses signal?

EMS Chief Eric Hoy said the current Cradlepoint routers and antennas are around five years old and unreliable. Speeds are low and the signal sometimes drops.

When the signal drops, Hoy said, dispatch can’t tell where an ambulance is.

“There could be a call in Wardsville. The ambulance could be sitting in the station at Wardsville. But the computer doesn’t recognize that the ambulance is there because their GPS signal isn’t active, so they end up sending the next ambulance, which is from South Ridge,” Hoy said. “That’s a big time hop if we’re looking at the rural areas of the county.”

Hoy said the rural areas of the county are where this issue becomes serious. Getting a signal in downtown Jefferson City is no problem, he said.

That’s why he asked the Cole County Commission on Tuesday to approve the purchase of 22 new Cradlepoint wireless routers and antennas for EMS.

The purchase would outfit each ambulance with the equipment and leave two extra units. The purchase will cost $69,540.02.

Hoy pointed to the units the sheriff’s department uses. He said they also use Cradlepoint units, but their devices are identified as version 21, while the current EMS devices are labeled as version 8.

In a side-by-side test at the South Ridge ramp, Hoy said, the sheriff’s device was getting around 150-megabyte download speed, while his device was only getting around 15.

“There we go, that’s what I’m talking about,” Sheriff John Wheeler joked.

Hoy said the lifespan of the new devices will depend on how quickly technology advances. They could last five years, like the last set did, or longer.

The development of cellular technology and signals, like the jump from 5G to 6G, is uncertain and could mean the devices will last longer than expected, Hoy said.

The commissioners approved the purchase; $50,000 of the cost will be paid out of tribal money the county received, while EMS foots the rest of the bill from its capital outlay fund.

In other action, Cole County Health Department Director Kristi Campbell asked the commission to approve an upgrade to the health department’s appointment reminder services.

Currently, Campbell said, a nurse has to manually send out appointment reminders to patients. This takes nurses away from their other duties.

By upgrading their plan with Patagonia Health, Campbell said they can use an app to automatically send out appointment reminders. While the new service will increase the department’s communications spending, Campbell said it will save her nurses valuable time.

Western District Commissioner Harry Otto said the upgrade will save nurses time, and therefore money, on the front end, and the automated reminders may also help ensure patients actually show up, which is beneficial in the long term.

Campbell said all of the department’s electronic health record management is paid for by an Epidemiology and Laboratory Capacity contract, and the added $121 per month will be covered by those funds.

Bushman, Otto and Eastern District Commissioner Jeff Hoelscher approved the upgrade unanimously.

In other business, the commission:

Appointed Clint Smith to the Mid-MO Regional Planning Commission.

Approved and signed a change order for the Carnegie Building project. County Engineer Matt Prenger said there was an increase in the amount of concrete needed for the sidewalk and pavement, but a decrease in project costs because no rock excavation was needed. The total project cost dropped by $2,460.20.

Signed an agreement with BMI Imaging Systems for imaging services. The agreement goes hand-in-hand with a previously approved contract with Digital ReeL, which is updating outdated technology and data at the sheriff’s department.

Signed an agreement with the Missouri Development Finance Board that will give a tax credit to the United Capital City Soccer Club soccer complex project. The credit will allow project donors to get 50 percent of their donations back via a tax credit.

Awarded the contract for extending the rail spur at the site of the multimodal transload facility to Jeff Schnieders Construction for $4.3 million. Public Works Director Eric Landwehr said the engineer’s estimate was more than $5 million, so the company’s low bid was welcome.

Currently, a combination of grand funding and money from the city-county co-op fund will put nearly $3.2 million into the project. Landwehr said he’s looking into getting other grants to cover as much of the cost as possible, but the county will pick up the rest.

Awarded a contract for asphalt overlay to Jefferson Asphalt for $625,585. The work will be done at Rock Ridge Road, Southridge Court, Foxfire Lane, Southbrook Lane and Schumate Chapel Road.

Awarded a contract for chip sealing to Missouri Petroleum for $568,216.87. The chip sealing will be done at West Brazito Road, Old Bass Road, Scruggs Station Road, Rumsey Lane, Lower Bottom Road, Pleasant Hill Road, East Fowler Street and Wolf Pass Lane.

Adjusted the budget to reflect $180,000 received from a cyber security grant.

Approved a memorandum of understanding (MOU) that will bring communications instructors to Cole County to give emergency management leaders training.

Signed a surplus title for a vehicle from the sheriff’s department. This will allow the department to get rid of the unused vehicle.

Approved a contract with Huber & Associates for a new server for the sheriff’s department. Wheeler said the department had a previous contract with another company to back up body cam footage onto a cloud server, but the company ended up being unable to meet the county’s needs.

With Huber, the department will now have its own servers on-site to hold body cam and dash cam footage. Wheeler said the servers will cost $127,693.22.

However, the previous company is giving the department a $60,000 refund, and the county will avoid future payments to that company for storing the footage.

The money will be moved from the sheriff’s department’s contingency fund to their capital outlay fund to pay for the servers.

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To watch the entire meeting, go to https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lt-_0JvJ2zE.