A local volunteer fire company may be forced to pay a potentially detrimental $80,000 bill after alleged mistakes outside the control of the company prevented an insurance company from covering the cost of rabies shots for six emergency responders.
In late June or early July (the exact date has not been shared with The Journal Times), the Wind Lake Volunteer Fire Company reported that six emergency medical technicians responded to reports of a crashed vehicle near the intersection of Highway K and North Beaumont Avenue in the Town of Norway. In the car, the EMTs found an unconscious woman who appeared to be foaming at the mouth.
Fearing they may have been exposed to rabies, which is almost always fatal if it goes untreated, Wind Lake Fire Co. President Willy Ellertson. said that the six EMTs were told by the Milwaukee County Medical Examiner’s Office that they should get “prophylactic rabies” treatments, which usually involve four doses of a vaccine delivered over the course of two to three weeks.