COLUMBIANA EMS chief outlines need for levy

Response time would increase to 12 minutes, the EMS chief said.
By NANCY TULLIS
VINDICATOR SALEM BUREAU
COLUMBIANA -- Columbiana Emergency Medical Services paramedics and emergency medical technicians are asking residents for 15 cents a day.
That's what the owner of a $100,000 home will pay if the city voters approve a 1.5-mill additional levy for EMS.
Tom Farley, city EMS chief, said the levy will generate about $150,000 per year. The money will be used for a capital improvement fund, to pay part-time EMTs and medics to cover weekend shifts, and to supplement fees not covered by Medicare.
He said the subscription plan for city residents would no longer be used, but city residents would have the same coverage as under the subscription plan.
Subscribers pay an annual fee to the EMS, and are billed but are not responsible for the balance of an EMS bill that is not covered by Medicare or a supplemental insurance.
Farley said Medicare continues to reduce the amount that it will pay for emergency services, and within two years Medicare will require that the provider, in this case Columbiana EMS, accept as payment for its services only what Medicare pays.
The rest is just a loss to the provider, so without revenue from somewhere, the EMS cannot afford to do that, Farley said.
Consequently, without the levy, the Columbiana EMS would be unable to continue to operate, Farley explained.
What would happen
If the Columbiana EMS disbands, the services will be picked up by private ambulance services in Salem and the surrounding areas.
That will increase response time from about 4.9 minutes to at least 12 minutes, he said.
"We do a lot of things as a community service that we don't charge for," Farley explained. "People can come to the station during the day to have their blood pressure checked. We go out to nursing homes or churches, anywhere someone asks us to go, and do health fairs.
"All the work we do staffing fairs and festivals and the July 4 celebration is all volunteer," he said. "We go in and help people up when they fall. If we go out and someone only needs a Band-Aid we don't charge for that."
The levy will take effect in January if it is passed, he said.
Need an ambulance
On the capital improvements end, the EMS department could replace an ambulance that will be 10 years old in 2004.
The department's second ambulance is a 1999 model.
Farley said the ambulances the department uses cost about $80,000 to $85,000. With the levy in place, the department could replace the 10-year-old ambulance and start a rotation system to replace the ambulances as needed.
The department could also use the levy money to buy new equipment for the ambulances, he said.
Farley said the department has 32 medics and EMTs available. The department had a record month in September with 105 calls. The last record month there were 88 calls, by comparison, he said.
"We can have seven calls in one day and then go three or four days with no calls," he said. "One day we had two calls within five minutes and then went for six hours with no calls. You can't predict emergencies."