Latest news with #DaveFeldpausch
CBS News
08-05-2025
- Health
- CBS News
Livingston County sees 10% increase in calls for emergency services
Livingston County officials say they are seeing more 911 calls, and there isn't a clear reason for this. EMS director Dave Feldpausch says calls are up 10%. "There isn't, like a certain demographic or a certain day of the week. There isn't a certain location, there isn't a certain time. It's just kind of an overall increase," Feldpausch said. "I know it was kind of a rough flu, cold, and flu season, so I'm assuming that's a portion of why maybe our January, February, or early March were really up, but that would be my best guess at this point." Feldpausch said the county is looking to hire four more EMTs to keep up with the calls. The county Board of Commissioners has already approved the four EMT positions, which Feldpausch hopes to hire in the coming weeks. "It's a challenge trying to hire and onboard good people. It's an even greater challenge if you ever have to downsize, which I hope I never have to do," he said. Feldpausch noted there is currently a nationwide shortage of paramedics and EMTs, but the county has a well-developed training program. He said that having four more EMTs on the job means they can run another whole ambulance in the county. "We have really good programs that draw people in, and we've done pretty well at recruiting and retaining employees," he said. "We're probably looking at July 1 before they really can impact the operation in any real, meaningful way."
CBS News
09-04-2025
- General
- CBS News
Livingston County approves two new EMS substations to improve emergency response time
After four years of work, EMS director Dave Feldpausch hopes to see quicker response times with the help of two new substations. In the past, Feldpausch said in the more rural areas of Livingston County, Michigan, emergency response times could exceed 20 minutes. "Time is huge when you when you really need help," Feldpausch told CBS News Detroit. Feldpausch said his work getting more EMS substations to Livingston County began shortly after the pandemic. "When the ARPA funds first became available, I put in a request for three additional substations," he said. One of those substations, located in Fowlerville, is already up and running. EMS took over an old firehouse when the fire department moved to a new building. Feldpausch said that while work on the substations is being done, Livingston County EMS has been training more first responders and acquiring more vehicles. "We do have all the other pieces that we need today in order to implement it tomorrow. If the buildings were done tomorrow," Feldpausch said. He said the new stations won't be done tomorrow—hopefully, they'll be complete next fall—but he says these additions are critical to serving the county's 584 square miles. Feldpausch said response times for Fowlerville are already markedly improved. "Our response times in that area are much better than they were two years ago, so we're confident that we can duplicate that. We just needed the buildings from which to do it with," he said.
