Letters to the Editor

Dear editor, The Plain Ambulance would like to thank the community for their continued support and donations at our spring spaghetti supper, which was held on April 5th . A special thank you to the Plain American Legion for the use of their building and to Rhonna Hetzel, Tammy Alt, Jeff Meise, Holly Faber, and Skylar Foss. We also would like to thank Plain Kwik Stop for making and donating the cookies. Proceeds will go towards scholarships for River Valley High School seniors.   Sincerely, Plain ambulance staff   Dear editor, Senator Howard Marklein (R-Spring Green_ recently had a blurb in a local newspaper saying he was angry that Governor Tony Evers dared to veto the bill  that he sponsored to allow Emergency Medical Responders (EMRs) to opt out of a national certification test,  due to its difficulty.  He also said that it is getting more difficult to get people to want to become an EMR, and noted that Evers vetoed the bill to kowtow to the urban areas.  Wow, nice way to make people continue the urban/rural fight, Senator.  Because the Republicans continue to foster the idea that working across the aisle is bad, I guess he thinks none  of us in the state should get along. It’s a shame that Marklein didn’t read the letter Evers sent to the legislature about why he vetoed the legislation.  I found it on Google…Marklein could have done so, too. Evers has allocated millions and millions of dollars to support medical service providers, including emergency medical technicians.  He said he did not support lowering the standards needed by EMRs.  I wholeheartedly agree with him…with today’s ever increasing and evolving medical knowledge and medical treatments, we need EMRs who aspire to higher standards, not lower. I do empathize with our emergency services who are having a hard time recruiting people to become EMRs.  I can attest to the fact that EMRs are amazing.  They are available any time, any day, and in the worst of conditions.  But they shouldn’t have to work with less qualified staff.  They deserve to work with the best, not the “almost” best.  We owe them that. When I was working as a registered nurse, I got to see the EMRs almost daily.  The amount of knowledge and procedures they need to master is growing constantly. I wish Marklein, instead of shaking his finger at Evers, would take an inward look at what he has supported in the past 10 years. State aid to communities for public safety funding has been reduced nine percent, while costs have increased to 16 percent.  He is directly responsible for this since he was one of the legislators responsible for lowering state aids. Barbara Voyce Lone Rock