Ambulance just keeps coming back as item for discussion Some things just keep coming back for discussion. One of those items is the Portage County Ambulance Service. Ever since the county and the city of Stevens Point went to a joint program in the 1960s, the service has periodically been called into question, and notice was served that the contract would be terminated. The crux of the problem has usually been financing. Sometimes, city officials said the ambulance was costing city taxpayers too much money to subsidize the service. Other times, the county was complaining the service was too expensive. So the two bodies go through a study to determine the best way to address the situation and usually make minor alterations in the contract. Then a few years later they go through the whole process again. Portage County isn't required to provide the service. State statutes require municipalities (the cities, villages and towns) to do so. Decades ago, the Stevens Point Fire Department operated an ambulance service in the city. Outside the city, the Portage County Sheriff's Department had an ambulance. When an ambulance was needed, a deputy would get the vehicle and drive to the emergency scene, wasting seconds of response time. When ambulance standards were upgraded, municipalities in Portage County asked the county to administer a single service instead of having multiple ambulance services found in other counties. In those counties, one ambulance service might cover one town or a portion of a town while another service covers another portion of the town. That leads to possible errors about the right service to dispatch. Through the years the county service, offered through the Stevens Point Fire Department, has often been at the forefront of services in the state. The present paramedic system, instituted in 1999 after a year of classes, is unusual for a service in a county as small as Portage. In July, the county again said it was terminating the contract. Increased off-duty runs have cost the service about $100,000 more than budgeted, money that should be recouped through charges for the service. County officials say they want to redo the contract, because it is unfavorable to the city. The ambulance service is a prime example of governmental bodies working together for the benefit of the public. However, the continual termination of the contract is unsettling and raises questions about the proficiency of some officials. Let's not jeopardize the future of the service with penny-ante bungling. Write a contract that allows negotiation without having to terminate a contract. Officials look foolish going down the same path again and again. - Gene Kemmeter