Three named to Emergency Medical Services panel
BY DAVE BENJAMIN Staff Writer

JACKSON - Three people have been appointed to Jackson's new Emergency Medical Services Advisory Board.

"We want to make sure that response times and quality of service are the best they can be. By implementing an advisory board we can stay on top of any situation," Councilman Scott Martin said after the appointments were approved by the Township Council on March 25.

Kenneth Bressi, Dennis Lafer and Richard Despins were appointed to the Emergency Medical Services Advisory Board.

Councilman Jason Gudaitis will serve as the council's liaison to the advisory board.

The EmergencyMedical ServicesAdvisory Board will assist and advise the mayor and council in monitoring and evaluating emergency medical services (EMS) that are provided to the residents of Jackson. The board members will also review the performance of the township's EMS provider and examine reports and response times of the EMS provider.

The advisory board will periodically provide reports to the mayor and council and will provide recommendations for improving emergency medical services to residents.

The advisory board members will select a chairman from among themselves.

Council President Ann Updegrave said, "After a number of advisory meetings prior to us choosing the people who we felt would best serve the residents of Jackson as far as EMS [is concerned], the people who were appointed brought to the table a lot of very good points. I felt they would do the best job of looking into how to correct whatever needed to be corrected and would be able to check out the monthly reports."

Updegrave said there will be liaisons to the advisory board from the Jackson Police Department and from the Jackson First Aid Squad.

Councilwoman Emily Ingram said, "the health and safety of Jackson residents is of utmost importance. Having this advisory committee enables the town to have better internal controls with the response times. I will definitely be requesting monthly reports and making sure that everything is done up to par."

Ingram said she appreciates the fact that the people appointed to the advisory board are volunteers who are putting their time and effort into this issue.

Bressi, Lafer and Despins were appointed to serve on the advisory board through June 30. They will not receive any compensation.