The Ellsworth Village Board was pleased that a plan by originated by the Town of Martell to switch ambulance providers was defeated at a special meeting last week.

Some emotions at the meeting ran high. In the end, though, Martell will not explore contracting with Allina Health through he City of River Falls or the Baldwin EMS for ambulance service.

Village Board member Becky Beissel is the representative on the Ellsworth Area Ambulance Service and she reported on the matter to the Village Board Monday night. The Ellsworth Area Ambulance Service bills itself as a “ rural Non-Profit 501 (c) (3) EMS service in western Wisconsin that provides 24/7 Paramedic care to the Village of Ellsworth and surrounding townships including Trimbelle, Hartland, El Paso, Martell, Salem, and Trenton. The service also provides Paramedic support to Maiden Rock/Plum City EMS. EAAS is staffed by a full time Director, Paramedics, Per Diem Paramedics, and paid on call EMTs, AEMT's, and Paramedics.”

Some concerns were voiced that the River Falls or Baldwin services couldn’t reach parts of Martell in a timely manner. Allina had examined the issue when River Falls was approached by a Martell supervisor and determined it could reach all areas in Martell via ambulance from River Falls in under 18 minutes.

Beissel said that the Mayo Clinic will be supplying a medical director now for the Ellsworth Area Ambulance Service just to oversee the operation.

“Martell considered leaving but that failed, and that’s good,” she said.

If Martell left the consortium, the prices other member municipalities pay for the service would have increased.

“Our per capita would have gone up maybe $7,” she said.

Martell had been served by River Falls EMS years ago.