Volunteer service transitioning to paid

[akflightmedic]

I found this article very interesting. Especially the parts where the service states it will pay the interest on the loan for the building and eventually repay the community for the building as well with all the money they receive from Medicare and Medicaid reimbursements since they are now having to charge for transports.

Click link for entire story.

http://www.newstimes.com/ci_11309521

Ambulances Nostalgia must give way to progress in New Milford

Nostalgia must give way to progress in New Milford

Newstimes

Updated: 12/25/2008 06:29:08 PM EST

After more than 60 years as an all-volunteer entity, the New Milford Community Ambulance Corp. will have paid daytime staff starting Jan. 2. And, of necessity, the ambulance group will begin charging for its services.

These two important changes, though signaling a basic shift in the operation, are absolutely needed for the highest level of public safety and for fiscal responsibility to the community.

The volunteers who have responded to medical calls at all hours through the decades are to be commended for their dedication. Their response has made a life-or-death difference for untold numbers of citizens.

But New Milford has grown tremendously in the past half-century, and the toll on finding volunteers is evident.

Last spring, resident Francis Hapke filed a complaint with the state Department of Health about the service's response time. His wife, who was having a stroke, had to wait more than an hour for an ambulance to arrive at her home and transport her to New Milford Hospital. The state is investigating the matter.

[sirduke]

Last spring, resident Francis Hapke filed a complaint with the state Department of Health about the service's response time. His wife, who was having a stroke, had to wait more than an hour for an ambulance to arrive at her home and transport her to New Milford Hospital. The state is investigating the matter.

Perhaps Mr Hapke should have advocated their becoming a paid service long ago, that way they wouldn't have to depend on a volunteer to come from home to the station, get a truck and then respond.

People have to realize that if you want prompt service, then you got to pay the price. Maybe one day we will have all paid services and then they will have a legitimate right to bitch.

[Chief1C]

Now if the first service was independent of its municipality, on its own, with its members as like stockholders; the new company wouldn't owe anyone a dime... I also doubt anyone's complaint about times, until the other side of the story is noted. Maybe their units were all out? Comes back to the "I only care if it affects me" line.

We will never all have paid services. All of EMS may someday be paid, but that will just mean fewer stations for wider areas. Someone will have to be on the short end of the stick..and wait longer, for less personnel and less ambulances. Because economically speaking, now especially, you could never make everyone paid. It may be better, or worse than what we have now, but nobody has the answer to that... and we probably won't see it in our lifetime.

[WolfmanHarris]

We will never all have paid services. All of EMS may someday be paid, but that will just mean fewer stations for wider areas. Someone will have to be on the short end of the stick..and wait longer, for less personnel and less ambulances. Because economically speaking, now especially, you could never make everyone paid. It may be better, or worse than what we have now, but nobody has the answer to that... and we probably won't see it in our lifetime.

I disagree. It takes a combination of the will to make EMS a priority and standards that create a professional EMS system that has no room for those with a limited training. The following services are the most remote services in Ontario, all have paid Primary Care Paramedic staff. The smallest communities have volunteer, non-transport first response teams. This was not always the case. Prior to the download of EMS from the Province to the municipalities in 2001, volunteer/part-time EMA's worked in these north areas but due to provincial mandate they are being phased out. A volunteer is not going to go to school for two years.

Algoma District EMS

Superior North EMS

Cochrane District EMS

If EMS is treated as a money making industry then of course rural, low call volume areas are not going to get proper service. If EMS is treated as an essential community service that relies on a tax base instead of on billing than it can be supported and provide proper care.

The problem it seems is that there is no impetus to change in these areas. In these small communities the citizens may look to their volunteers as a source of stubborn pride, despite limited service and especially when the alternative is higher taxes. The volunteers provide no impetus to change as any improvements to service within their community will always be filtered first through the assumption that their volunteer service must be the one providing EMS which in turn limits their options. At a government level, since neither the citizens nor the service are pushing for increased service levels and tax support, why would they move for a paid service on their own initiative? Unless something go horribly wrong drawing attention to the situation, they won't. At a state level, unless the government is willing to set a high standard and let the towns and cities figure out for themselves how to meet them, they will be just as affected by these other stakeholders and continue to create standards that pander to the lowest common denominator.

This is not to say that I attribute malice or any sort of selfishness to any of these stakeholders, only a lack of appreciation for the big picture and perhaps a lack of the fortitude necessary to look past the perceived risk of change until their is no choice.

We don't see these article about volunteer communities going paid as a way to enhance service, instead we see communities that already had limited service, that are unable to meet even that, being forced to pay some staff to maintain the previous levels. No if only some of these communities could get ahead of the game.

[Chief1C]

If EMS is treated as a money making industry then of course rural, low call volume areas are not going to get proper service. If EMS is treated as an essential community service that relies on a tax base instead of on billing than it can be supported and provide proper care.

We'd never be afforded the right to have a tax for EMS, unless the state said they had to. The fire dept. gets a very low sum, compared to their yearly budget, and that was very difficult to negotiate. I honestly do not believe that the citizenry see an Ambulance as a necessity.

[rock_shoes]

We'd never be afforded the right to have a tax for EMS, unless the state said they had to. The fire dept. gets a very low sum, compared to their yearly budget, and that was very difficult to negotiate. I honestly do not believe that the citizenry see an Ambulance as a necessity.

If citizens of a particular area don't see ambulance services as a necessity then in their hour of need they can go without. You get what you pay for.

[WolfmanHarris]

We'd never be afforded the right to have a tax for EMS, unless the state said they had to. The fire dept. gets a very low sum, compared to their yearly budget, and that was very difficult to negotiate. I honestly do not believe that the citizenry see an Ambulance as a necessity.

Does the tax system in the USA (or your state in particular) require a specific tax be levied for each service, or can the funding come from the common property tax base? Within my municipality, property taxes are set by the city and the total revenue is divided up to pay for services (less the ear marked Public school tax which is collected as part of property taxes). Budgets from Police, Fire, EMS, etc are presented to the city for approval. If the city coffers don't cover cost they either cut, increase the property tax or both. For example this year's budget shortfall resulted in a 3.6% tax increase. It would have been 4.1% except a provincial infusion of ~$800k allowed for an increase that wasn't much more than inflation.