Commissioners approve paramedic plan
"I can’t believe that most of my friends didn’t know we
didn’t have paramedics." - Vicky Bates, Wood River Valley
By TRAVIS PURSER
Express Staff Writer
After a nearly hour-long presentation on paramedic-level emergency
services (EMS) in Blaine County, the board of commissioners unanimously approved an
operational plan that EMS providers say could save lives and allow a paramedic operation
to support itself financially.
The approval was a major step in the ongoing work of EMS providers to
upgrade emergency medical services, which they say are currently inadequate because they
provide only bare-bones emergency medical technician (EMT) care to patients during a trip
to the hospital.
Paramedics, they say, a major step up from EMTs, greatly increase the
chance of survival for severely injured patients during transportation because paramedics
can perform complex medical procedures and administer drugs en route, something EMTs
cannot do.
Jon Moses, chief executive of the new St. Luke’s hospital, presented
the Paramedic Program Operational Plan to the commissioners Tuesday at the old Blaine
County Courthouse in Hailey.
The plan asked commissioners to take four major "action steps":
Approve the 29-page operational plan for establishing
paramedics in the county.
Authorize county EMS chiefs to meet and report back on
billing and collection needs and on a fee schedule within 30 days.
Consider allowing an "ambulance membership"
plan to be implemented, which would allow residents to pay a regular fee in advance for
paramedic services.
Request EMS chiefs to meet and report back on existing
cost efficiencies within 30 days.
St. Luke’s and the Sawtooth Emergency Medical
Services Council, which Moses also heads, created the plan with Mike Williams of The
Abaris Group, a California-based emergency medical services consulting firm.
Williams, who specializes in program delivery and design, including cost
and revenue issues, spoke about the need for and affordability of paramedic services in
Blaine County.
Of the approximately 1,000 ambulance calls the county responds to per
year, 84 of those are "extreme cases" that would lend themselves to paramedic
care, Williams said.
In responding to a question by Commissioner Mary Ann Mix, Williams said he
was not sure how many of those 84 cases resulted in permanent disability or death.
On the issue of affordability, Williams said the program would easily
cover its own expenses.
Estimated ongoing net revenue from paramedic services, at $146,000,
Williams said, are higher than estimated costs, at $85,000.
Williams estimated start-up costs, including the costs of training eight
paramedics, at $410,000. So far, he said, the Heinz Foundation and the Moritz Auxiliary of
the Wood River Medical Center have raised $420,000 for startup.
The commissioners’ approval of the plan was also an important step in
allowing four EMTs currently employed by the county to attend paramedic training in Ada
County in April.
At a previous meeting with commissioners, Moses said he would not allow
the EMTs to attend the program without the commissioners’ endorsement.
Citizens speaking at the meeting expressed overwhelming approval for the
plan.
Vicky Bates said her son died six months ago because he didn’t get
prompt medical attention while being transported to the Wood River Medical Center.
"It was very hard to sit here and listen to [Dr. Keith Severtson,
director of emergency services for the hospital] talk about time frames," she said.
"I can’t believe that most of my friends didn’t know we didn’t have
paramedics."
Commissioners added as a condition to approval of the plan that local fire
chiefs begin consolidating county and city EMS dispatch centers.
