EAFD Assistant Fire Chief David Fladten “elbow bumps” VIP Services Sales Manager Rob Likes in gratitude of receiving 150 pieces of PPE
Following Governor Tony Evers request for businesses to review their inventory and share any Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) with the frontline services battling the COVID-19 pandemic, VIP Services found and donated 150 Protective Suits from their overstock inventory.
VIP Services is a not-for-profit organization that works with people with disabilities. One major program that the VIP Services provides is prevocational training in their Production Center.
“We work with dozens of local, regional and national companies to fulfill orders ranging from packaging to assembly,” Rob Likes, Sales Manager for the organization’s Value Added Production Services shared. “One job had us purchasing these suits to include in a packaging order. We ended up with a few extra cases of these coveralls and just kept them in case they came in handy someday.”
“Evidently that day is today” Executive Director Cindy Simonsen said. “We had almost forgotten about these cases of protective wear, but we were excited to find them when we did a facility-wide review of our supplies like the Governor requested.”
VIP Services reached out to local first responders to see if they were adequately equipped for the current crisis. They found that the EMS Division of the Elkhorn Area Fire Department was without this type of PPE for their EMTs who are facing the potential of COVID-19 with every call they answer.
Assistant Fire/EMS Chief David Fladten said that every department in the state is preparing for the worst, and hoping for the best. “These (pieces of protective clothing) will definitely come in handy and give our emergency personnel the added protection we need during this crisis,” Fladten commented. “We are really grateful for this donation.”
The EMS Division was formed in 1954 as a rescue squad. In 2003 the rescue squad merged with the fire department. Today the division has 40 EMS personnel. The Elkhorn Area Fire Department responds to 911 calls in the City of Elkhorn, Town of Sugar Creek, Town of LaFayette, and the Town of Geneva including Geneva National. Together with the Fire Division the department answers over 1500 calls per year.
In 2020 VIP Services celebrates 50 years of serving the greater Walworth County area through an extensive range of programs and services for people with disabilities and barriers to employment. In addition to prevocational training, VIP Services offers Community Employment support, Day Services, and is the contracted transportation provider for Walworth County.
For more information on VIP Services, please contact Cindy Simonsen at (2620 723-4043 ext. 102.
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