Just this year, we saw something crazy surface in the legal scene of the country and something that every citizen should know about. Yes, we’re talking about a kinda weird and really serious case of the Dillsboro Emergency Ambulance Unit short for DEAU, which is a small nonprofit in the country, which was supposed to help out people in emergencies. Like, when someone out there is having a heart attack or gets badly hurt or something like that, people could call this nonprofit organization and they’ll show up to help out those in need. And it is not like DEAU is some new organization, nah, they have been at it since 1965 down there in the town of Dillsboro.
But just this year, we saw that Attorney General of Indiana, Todd Rokita, went on to sue DEAU. Why? Like what’s the problem? Oh, the thing is, Todd says that the group has gotten so bad at responding to emergency calls that it doesn’t even make sense and this is straight up putting so many people’s lives at risk. And this is the very reason we’re seeing this Dillsboro EMS Attorney General Lawsuit in action now, so, let’s just see some of the crucial details of this case.
Where Things Started Going Wrong
As per the details that are already out, you see, Dillsboro EMS has been working as the local ambulance provider for many years now. But after 2021, there was something off behind the scenes, like, the service wasn’t as effective as it had been in the past many years.
Just look at the data, for example, back in 2021, they showed up for about 31% of the emergency calls, which is already a low response number, but then in 2022, it got even worse. Really? Yes, in 2022, it was just 21% and from there on, it just kept going down like in 2023, the emergency call response by the nonprofit organization was just 12%. Can you even imagine that?
And sure enough, because of this very reason, the county decided to stop working with them in March 2024 which, as per many people, was a good call.
Money, Mismanagement, and Missed Calls
It’s not just the super low response rate, nah, there was something else that we saw in this lawsuit. You see, DEAU was getting about $60,000 a year from public funding, plus, you know, whatever they made from fundraising and billing for ambulance rides and all that stuff. But if you go by their official records, DEAU’s assets dropped hard over a few years, which again doesn’t make any sense. In 2016, they had about $1.36 million in assets. By 2021, that number was down to just $142,000, which is what made a lot of city officials suspicious about this nonprofit organization, and maybe something fishy is going on behind the scenes.
What Exactly Is the State Doing?
So right now, Attorney General Rokita officially has filed a lawsuit in Dearborn County Court, and they are asking the court to shut down DEAU completely because it is of no good use now. The county wants the court to appoint a “receiver” in this case and take over DEAU’s assets that according to them are being misused somehow.