Help me convert Ruraltown EMS from volly to paid.

[spenac]

Thanks again for all the ideas on this scenario. One service in my area only gets 8 calls per month. They are the primary for about 500 square miles, 35 miles from hospital, population in area of 600. The volly's quit. Now it will be paid $13 for basics and $18 for paramedics and they will be paid for every hour of their shifts. They will be required to stay at the station for entire shift. City's and counties can afford EMS. Volly's don't buy into the crap that they can't. Keep the ideas coming. Hopefully we can keep helping other services become paid. I have heard good news that in my area there are 3 volly depts that will be paid starting Jan 1, 2008, and the busiest one only does 90 calls a year.

[JakeEMTP]

That is good news spenac. Hopefully volly squads all over will get a clue and start quitting en masse. The sooner volly squads fade away the more likely it is we can begin to start EMS towards a profession. Employers will start demanding more education for paid positions, and rightfully so.

A better educated workforce can only be beneficial to EMS and the public as a whole.

Kudos to those brave enough to step up and demand to be paid. If only the folks in NJ could see the light .

[VaREMS1]

One of our local volunteer EMS agencies is slowly going career.

They have a local ambulance service do their billing for them...and the service keeps 5%.

Unsure if this would work in your locality, but it works well for them.

FYI: I also sent a message to your inbox concerning a part of your dilemma.

[spenac]

One of our local volunteer EMS agencies is slowly going career.

They have a local ambulance service do their billing for them...and the service keeps 5%.

Unsure if this would work in your locality, but it works well for them.

FYI: I also sent a message to your inbox concerning a part of your dilemma.

Thanks for the input. Remember this is a scenario to help vollys go paid. I work with 3 paid services. But have been involved with helping 3 other services start the switch to paid as mentioned earlier this topic.

[spenac]

Well looks like I'll be working at the services that recently went paid starting in Jan. Yea baby paid all the way.

[spenac]

Well we have a new batch of vollys claiming we want to let people die because there is just no way to support a paid service, thus I bring this post back to life tonight.

[brentoli]

Even if it takes a transition... it can happen. It will happen.

[stcommodore]

I'll move into your station and be your 'live in medic' when I become a medic...

[RuralEMT-I]

What about billing? You can bill insurance if it is available even if you are relying on a tax based community for their support. You would be surprised how much additional income you would generate from insurance billing with relatively little overhead.

I am working on a similar situation at the ambulance service I am the Administrator of. We have myself and a paid paramedic who is on call 24/7. We are looking at the decline of willing and able volunteers. Next step is we are researching the costs and feasibility of becoming a paid service. That is a gigantic step but necessary.

[spenac]

What about billing? You can bill insurance if it is available even if you are relying on a tax based community for their support. You would be surprised how much additional income you would generate from insurance billing with relatively little overhead.

I am working on a similar situation at the ambulance service I am the Administrator of. We have myself and a paid paramedic who is on call 24/7. We are looking at the decline of willing and able volunteers. Next step is we are researching the costs and feasibility of becoming a paid service. That is a gigantic step but necessary.

Bill every call, transport or not. If people have no insurance offer payment plans. If you get enough people paying at least $10 a month it starts adding up after a year. Honestly if you are already equipped and supplied as a volly service only new money is the money for payroll. Any city or county claims they cannot fund a paid service is full of crap. I applaud your efforts.