Giles County commissioners approve purchase of new heart monitors for ambulance service

GILES COUNTY, Tenn. (WKRN) — After months of hesitation, the Giles County Commission has approved funding for new heart monitors for its emergency medical services teams.

Willow Chavez, director of Giles County EMS, said she felt a huge weight lifted from her shoulders after county commissioners gave the green light, voting 14 to 7 for the ambulance service to purchase a new fleet of heart monitors on money from the county’s capital improvement account.

In a recent social media post regarding the vote to fund cardiac monitors, District 7 Commissioner Giles Carman Brown said confusion over the need, who is responsible for selecting the type of monitors and oversight of the 171 Capital Projects Fund has led to “dragging out” discussions at committee meetings.

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“We commend our county commissioners and county executive for their due diligence,” Chavez said. “I never get offended or worried when they ask questions. I think it’s their job and they have a responsibility. This was a huge purchase for this county. At the end of the day, I respect that they are trying to do the right thing.”

This has been Chavez’s attempt to work since she became head of the department back in March, when she realized that eight of their 10 supervisors were nearing the end of their terms of service.

“It was definitely a relief,” Chavez said. “This is very important. I would say that in 99.9% of calls the heart monitor will adjust. We are thrilled and incredibly grateful that our commissioners saw the need for this and that they trust us enough to listen to what we have to say.”

The 10 new monitors cost $476,990 and annual maintenance costs are $19,000, according to the Giles County Commission.

Giles County EMS will be migrating from a Zoll Series X heart monitor to the new Lifepack 35. Chavez said the updated product will be a game changer for her employees.

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“The user interface is so intuitive,” Chavez said. “It has everything that reduces cognitive load and allows you to make decisions a little faster. One of the important things is also that we have the ability to transmit or broadcast live what is happening on the monitor to the doctor in the emergency room, in the cath lab or anywhere else so that they can see in real time, what happens to the patient. Because we live in such a rural area, being able to save those minutes really makes a difference.”

News 2 has reached out to all members of the Giles County Emergency Management Committee for comment on this decision.

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District 4 Commissioner Caleb Savage, who also chairs the Emergency Management Committee, responded with the following statement:

“I am pleased that the commission has decided to continue funding the purchase of new cardiac monitors. As a cardiac nurse, I see the benefits of the new monitors. The new monitors will help our amazing emergency medical personnel diagnose potentially fatal heart rhythms and speed the delivery of appropriate medical care to our citizens.”

Caleb Savage, Giles County District 4 Commissioner and Emergency Management Committee Chairman

Chavez said she expects to have the new monitors in service early in the new year.

“Everything we do, we think about the citizens,” Chavez said. “They can’t choose who comes and takes them. They won’t be able to decide Vanderbilt vs. St. Thomas. All they get is Giles County Ambulance when they pick up the phone and call, so we want to provide the best service we can.”

Over the next few weeks, Giles County EMS said it will post facts on Facebook about the various features of the device that will be available to their crews when responding to emergencies.

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