Allen County is now home to the 341st medical accredited center in the world.
“It’s huge,” said Chelsie Decker, Allen County 911 director, during Tuesday’s Allen County Commission meeting. “Three years ago, the county’s fire service received an Accredited Center of Excellence (ACE) accreditation. We’ve been working hard on the medical side and we’re excited to share this.”
The International Academies of Emergency Dispatch (IAED) has a board of directors who put together the standards the centers should meet, noted Decker. “We have met those standards,” she said. “And you don’t just have to meet them once. You have to maintain that standard over the course of three months before you can even apply.”
According to IAED, agencies who do achieve ACE status receive a broad range of benefits. This includes increased visibility and recognition for their role in community service, as well as assistance with litigation and liability management.
Decker noted Emergency Management Director Jason Trego is a board of accreditation reviewer with IAED. “His job with them is to approve these ACE applications,” she explained. “Having him in our pocket to help, made the process smooth and almost flawless.”
The commissioners congratulated Decker on the distinction, with Bruce Symes adding, “Bottom line is that our dispatchers are as well-trained as they can be.” Decker added that Allen County is the third center in the state to receive the accreditation. Franklin and Johnson counties are also medically accredited.
“I’m very proud of our team,” said Decker. “It’s important to note that over half of our team has less than five years’ experience. They’re doing great and are continuing training.”
DEBBIE BEARDEN, with GROW council, asked the commission whether they would consider having the county partially fund a full-time director for the Allen County Farmers Market.
“The Farmers Market is something that plays a role in the increased access for healthy food for people in Allen County,” Bearden said. She added that she plans to approach the City of Iola on the matter, as well.
The current funding mechanism for the director position is through grants. “The GROW council board of directors are all volunteers,” she added.
Bearden intends to resign from the board and noted she will continue volunteering her time to write grants. “The council is preparing for its 16th season of the current iteration of the farmers market,” she said. “We don’t want it to just fall apart when some of us step away.”
Bearden explained the board is composed of several vendors, which complicates matters. “They can’t sell their products and manage the market at the same time. We tried that early on,” she said.
Commissioner Jerry Daniels noted he is interested in having a discussion, especially if the cities that have markets also wanted to be involved.
Bearden said the GROW council does not oversee all the town’s markets in the county. The council has 501c3 status and completes all of its grant writing independently.
“The county still works with us because we use the square,” she said. “It broadened our base of partners to do it that way.”
