EMS Director Seeks to Expand Hours of Day Truck Ambulance Operation

June 18, 2021
By: Dwayne Page

Should the DeKalb County Ambulance Service expand the hours of its day truck ambulance operation?

The answer is yes according to EMS Director Hoyte Hale and he met with the budget committee of the county commission Wednesday night to formally make that request.

DeKalb EMS currently operates with two 24 hour trucks (ambulances) seven days a week along with a day truck ambulance Monday through Friday each week from 7 a.m. until 5 p.m. Hale wants to expand the use of the day truck operation to 12 hours a day, seven days a week to meet the increasing demands.

“Due to an increase in the population, lake related activities and transfers on weekends, the call volume has drastically increased. A day truck ambulance would be of benefit such as reducing safety risks to other crew members due to fatigue, greater county coverage and response time, employee retention, less wear on current ambulances and increased revenue due to transfers,” said Director Hale.

“Currently, during weekends the county has coverage provided by two ambulances. When hospital transfers occur, there is only one ambulance remaining to provide county wide coverage. During these times of single ambulance coverage, other calls occur and leave the county uncovered requiring these calls to wait for mutual aid (ambulances coming from other counties) to arrive. Within the last year, there has been 3,744 responses, 2,782 transports with a total of 175 out of county transfers on the weekends. A Saint Thomas EMS unit has transferred 90 of these calls due to a (DeKalb County) ambulance being out of the county on a transfer, resulting in lost revenue to the county,” Director Hale continued.

To adequately staff the expanded day truck service, Director Hale is asking the county to fund three more full time paramedics or AEMTS, EMTS to work Mondays through Sundays on 12 hour shifts. One of the two day truck crews would work two days on and then be off for three days while the other crew would work three days on and be off for two days.

Meanwhile, Director Hale plans to make application for an Assistance to Firefighters Grant to purchase three mechanical Lucas Chest Compression devices which can deliver automatic chest compression with minimal risk of interruptions during patient transport. If approved the county would have to fund a 5% grant match of about $3,125.

Director Hale is also asking that the county find money to purchase and install the Stryker loading systems on four ambulances at a cost of $25,000 each through either state or federal grant funding or local capital projects monies.

“What that would allow us to do is when we pull up on a call and get out, the cot would automatically come out and lower down and when we get the patient, place him on the cot and begin to load him on the ambulance the system would lift the cot with the patient and place it into the ambulance without the staff having to do any heavy lifting preventing any possible back injuries,” said Director Hale.

Hale’s requests further include funding for a newer four wheel drive EMS SUV with an equipment package.

“An SUV would be of benefit for response to 911 calls providing the space for necessary equipment in case of mass casualties, the capabilities to reach destinations with difficult access as well as use in traveling to trainings for continuing education. The current EMS vehicle is a 2006 Ford Crown Victoria with approximately 160,000 miles which does not have adequate space for the equipment needed and requires constant maintenance,” said Director Hale.

Price options for an SUV range from $26,634 to $35,457 according to three proposals quoted by Director Hale.

The budget committee has not yet acted on the EMS requests.

June 18, 2021
By: Dwayne Page

Almost a million dollars.

That’s how much extra local property tax revenue Road Supervisor Danny Hale is asking of the county to help him repair deteriorating roads.

Hale appeared before the County Budget Committee Thursday night to make his case for an increase in the local property tax rate of 16 cents to help shore up the road department budget which equates to an increase of $991,520 under the new certified property tax rate calculation. The certified tax rate is $1.7308 per $100 of assessed value. If approved the rate would increase, based on Hale’s request alone by 16 cents to an overall rate of $1.8908 per $100 of assessed value.

Although the road department is primarily funded by allocations from state sources such as gasoline and motor fuel tax, state aid program, and the petroleum special tax, it also benefits from a local mineral severance tax and the county currently kicks in four cents of the local property tax rate which, according to the 2020-21 budget comes to about $190,000 a year.

Still, Hale said that is not near enough to do the work needed.

Breaking it down by month, Hale explained that his department receives an average of $173,502 in state revenue and $16,143 in county tax funds for a total of $189,645 while the cost to operate is $112,859 per month which covers everything but paving, chipping, and buying equipment. According to Hale that leaves him only $76,786 per month to service 513 miles of roads in DeKalb County or $149 per mile in which to tar and chip or pave.

“Eighty five percent of our roads need to be redone (re-chipped). That’s a reality. Our roads are all to pieces. Its costs us $32,000 to $35,000 per mile to chip a road and $110,000 to $180,000 per mile to pave,” said Road Supervisor Hale.

Even if the county grants his request, Hale said that would still only allow him to service 32 to 35 road miles per year.

“This year alone we have had three disasters. We had an ice storm and we worked night and day cleaning up the roads but before we finished that we had a flood and we’re still working to clean up from that today and then we had a tornado come through. To accomplish anything we are going to have to put some money into our roads and I am asking for help” added Hale.

The budget committee has not yet acted on Road Supervisor Hale’s request.

June 17, 2021
By: Dwayne Page

Two local dental practices have announced big changes.

Longtime dentist Dr. Cliff Duke, who has been in practice since 1979, is retiring this month (tentatively June 25) completing 42 years of service to this community while Dr. Mitch Tatum of DeKalb Dental Center will be welcoming Dr. Duke’s patients as well as a new dentist to his practice, Dr. Alex Hayes

“After 42 years providing dental services to the best people on earth I am announcing my retirement,” said Dr. Duke this week in a joint appearance with Dr. Tatum and Dr. Hayes.

Although Dr. Duke’s office on South Congress Boulevard will be closing, he has made arrangements with Dr. Tatum to care for his patients going forward.

“I have seen some of Dr. Tatum’s work over the years and it has been consistently excellent and although I have not seen Dr. Hayes’s work because he is just starting his practice I have talked to his instructors who said he is really good. They think highly of his work,” said Dr. Duke.

Dr. Tatum commended Dr. Duke for the care he provided and looks forward to serving his patients now.

“I would like to congratulate Dr. Duke on his 42 years. That’s an accomplishment and this town has been truly blessed to have him. He has done excellent work and we will strive to continue that. We are honored to be adding Dr. Duke’s patients to our family. They will still have the quality care they have been receiving from Dr. Duke. We pledge to continue treating all our patients like family,” said Dr. Tatum.

Dr. Hayes, a native of Smithville, was raised here and educated in the local school system and he recently married Kelsey Hedge, who is also from Smithville.

“I went to preschool all the way through to high school here and played defensive back for the football team at DCHS. I graduated in 2013 and then went to Tennessee Tech and earned by Bachelor’s Degree before moving to Memphis where I got my Doctor of Dental Surgery degree in April,” said Dr. Hayes.

Ready to hit the ground running, Dr. Hayes said he is anxious to begin his new practice.

“I am super excited to be joining this team at DeKalb Dental Center. I have been a patient here and job shadowed several times and the staff always treated me so great. They are a big reason why I am here. I wanted to be part of that. DeKalb County has some amazing people. I love it here and I am so happy to be back. DeKalb County has had some excellent dentistry the past several decades and I will work to make sure that legacy continues,” Dr. Hayes said.

“We are excited to have Dr. Hayes coming on board,” added Dr. Tatum. We look forward to him being a part of this practice”.

Born in west Tennessee, Dr. Duke explained how he eventually found his way to Smithville.

“My family moved from Dyersburg to Memphis shortly after my birth. We later relocated to Georgia and that’s where I grew up. When I was in college our family moved back to Tennessee and after dental school I got a job with public health and this (Smithville) is where they put me. I was working at the health department here performing dental care three days a week and at Carthage two days a week. At that time my wife and I lived in McMinnville and later moved to Smithville,” said Dr. Duke.

During his time at the health department, Dr. Duke met longtime Smithville dentist Dr. Jerre Hale who was looking for an associate.

“I was working for the health department here in town at that time so I got to know Dr. Hale and we partnered. He took me in as his associate. We had separate practices until he retired several years later. I bought out his practice and went solo after that,” Dr. Duke continued.

Dr. Duke said while he has no specific plans in retirement he is looking forward to spending more time with his family. He and his wife are the parents of a grown son and daughter and they have two grandchildren, ages 6 and 8.

“I have grandkids I want to spoil as much as I can much to the chagrin of my daughter. I have learned over the years that retired folks are some of the busiest I know so I don’t anticipate being bored,” he said.

Dr. Duke also singled out his family, staff, and patients for a special thank you.

“It has been a profound honor to provide dental treatment for your families over the past 42 years and I so much appreciate it. It means more to me than you will know. I also want to say thank you to the people I work with. They are the reason I look forward to coming to work every day. I want to say thank you to my family. My wife and children make me look forward to coming home every day. Thank you so much for all you have done for me,” said Dr. Duke.

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