Training police officers in emergency medical services and creating a separate countywide paramedic department were among the ideas to come out of an open house that Thiensville village officials hosted last month on the Ozaukee County fire and EMS study.
About 20 people attended the event, a number that caused concern among members of the Thiensville Committee of the Whole last week.
Village trustees said they had hoped to engage more people on the report, which assessed staffing shortages at the nine volunteer and paid-on-call departments in the county. Among the recommendations of the report, which was researched and written by the Wisconsin Policy Forum, were consolidating some or all of the departments and adding full-time paid staffing, likely at a sizable cost.
Village Trustee Angelina Apostolos wondered how to engage more residents and suggested a survey asking how many are aware of the issue and other questions. Other trustees seemed favorable to the idea, and Trustee Jennifer Abraham posed the idea of creating an ad hoc committee to drive the survey.