Commissioners approve extended warranty on cardiac monitors

The Laurens County Commissioners want to make sure the cardiac monitors in ambulances and other emergency vehicles work when they are needed.

That is why they approved a maintenance agreement to extend the warranties on them during a regular board meeting Tuesday evening.

“When people are having chest pains, these cardiac monitors with an EKG are used, just like you would have at a doctor’s office or the hospital,” said Laurens County Administrator Bryan Rogers. “The warranties are getting ready to run out and those things are very expensive. I was looking at it the other day and one little knob or piece on it was like $38 hundred. These can run up a lot of money in a hurry.

“Emergency services is the No. 1 focal point of services that commissioners feel like we need to provide to the public,” he added. “We are never going to skimp on that. We’re going to continue to find ways to improve the highest level of service that we can provide.”  

Rogers said the cost will be more than $14,000, for two years.

“If they will save lives, it is worth every penny,” said county commission chairman Jimmy Rogers.

Rogers said the cardiac monitors are strategically placed around the county. They help medical workers diagnose patients.

“So much of the work that they do is relayed to the emergency room physicians and they give orders and meds that the paramedics and EMTs need to push and how to even start treating the patient even before they get to the hospital,” Rogers said. 

After all, time is of the essence during an emergency.

“We are a very large county so we can’t snatch and grab like we’re in a small geographic area,” Rogers said. “A person may be down in Cedar Grove or Montrose and possibly 30 or more minutes away. It’s so important that our guys are capable of starting the treatment on the scene and continuing that treatment while the patient is being transported to the hospital. We want to be able to start treatment as soon as we can and not wait until we get a patient to the hospital.”

Earlier, the commissioners approved the Laurens County Board of Education millage rate of 14 mils. The county commissioners recently moved their part of the millage rate to 7.

During citizens comments, Vonda Morton returned to talk to the commissioners about data centers. She said it is the hyperscale data centers used to train AI models that she opposes. 

“It’s my understanding that this body is exploring options for a data center ordinance,” Morton said. “One would hope that such an ordinance would make Laurens County totally unattractive to data centers. We do not want to roll out the welcome mat to data centers. A county is run like a business, correct? A business has the right to refuse service for anybody they choose for any reason or for no reason at all. I remember signs that would say, “No shirt, no shoes, no service.”

She urged the commissioners to refuse these types of data centers, which contributes to the bad health of those who live nearby.
“I would suggest that any ordinance that you consider should state very simply that AI data centers are banned in Laurens County, period and end of discussion,” Morton said.