While the district will still provide basic first responder service,
the county will handle all transports
by Holly Allen
Following a unanimous vote by the District 11 fire board Dec. 13, it has been made official that the district’s Emergency Management Services will cease operations as an ambulance transport facility effective the first day of the new year.
“We want people to understand that they will still get service. Our first responder group will still respond, but it is the county ambulance service that will be doing the transports,” stated John Shipley, EMS Coordinator for the district. “Every other fire district in the county operates with a first responder structure and county transports.”
The fire district headquartered at Valley Falls is the only one in the county that provides its own EMS ambulance services separate from the county’s, however, residents of District 11 and its neighboring communities have been used to a shortened response time since its addition in 1982.
It should be expected that a response time coming from the county headquarters in Oskaloosa will take considerably longer.
The reason for the closure is purely budgetary. Funding for the service is based on user fees — insurance, Medicare, and Medicaid reimbursement, private pay, and donations. Medicare and Medicaid have set reimbursement rates which, most of the time, do not fully cover the transport pay, fuel, and supplies utilized for a call.
According to Shipley, donations have decreased substantially over the past decade. The district’s EMS services receive no tax dollars from Jefferson County, despite the fact that, thus far in 2022 alone, the organization responded to 240 requests for service, which will, with the closure of EMS 11, require the arrival of a county ambulance unit.
Shipley reports 24 of those requests for service in 2022 were assists outside of District 11’s service area.
The district’s EMS service has a very small operating budget which manages payroll and operating costs. The main concern with lack of funding is staffing. With staff members needing to support themselves with other full-time jobs, it has become impossible for the district to fully cover the schedule.
The current hourly rate for weekday EMS staff is just $9 an hour. Though historically a donation-based volunteer service, in recent years, with little (or no) pay, people with the necessary skillset are unable or unwilling to step up within the small community to volunteer, and with the significant budget issues, the station cannot afford to employee a large number of certified staff members.
“Another contributing factor is the escalating costs of supplies,” stated Shipley. “When ordering supplies and medications, I can’t just order one or two of something, I have to order a certain quantity. Supply costs have increased, just like everything else. A lot of times, supplies will expire before we can use them, creating waste.”
For the past several months, the ambulance service has been losing money consistently, making the current business model unsustainable.
Shipley estimates with current costs, an additional $60,000 to $70,000 per year would be required to keep District 11’s EMS services up and running. That said, the district has thus far made no plea to the area’s city council or to residents of the district for additional donations. Fire board member Kelly Gatzemeyer reports he has reached out to two of the three Jefferson County Commissioners via email, and one via phone call, to apprise them of the dire straits of the situation, but no offer for help was forthcoming.
“It’s become apparent to me that the county has turned their back on any subsidy here, despite what it will cost them to make up the difference for the service we currently provide,” stated Gatzemeyer. “This is serious. Listen, the fear here is that, with the additional response time for transport, someone may lose their life.”
The county currently operates a fully-staffed EMS service out of Oskaloosa, with a satellite office in Meriden. However, District 11 fire chief Jason Nellis feels the county takes advantage of the services, supplies, and quick response time provided by District 11, with no reimbursement.
Shipley anticipates it will cost the county more than EMS District 11 needs yearly to stay afloat in order to put on another county crew to cover the calls currently being answered by the District 11 EMS group.
District 11 currently owns two ambulances. However, without the license allowing the ability to transport patients, those will likely be sold off.
Shipley wants the public to know their first responders will still show up when called, on a volunteer basis, but that the capabilities and response time for transport will change.
“It will not be what the people of this area are used to,” stated Shipley. “I hate it — we have tried hard to make it work — but at this point in time, with the staffing requirements, I don’t see any other option.”
The Kansas Board of Emergency Medical Services and the Board of County Commissioners have been informed of the decision deemed necessary by the fire board to hand over their EMS license as of Jan. 1.
When reached for comment, Commissioner Richard Malm stated, “I spoke to Kelly Gatzemeyer several months back. I looked back at my notes from when he called, which didn’t reflect that he wanted a response back within any certain timeframe. We (the commissioners) have talked about it here and there since then.”
Malm went on to say the commissioners would need more time and more information before any kind of decision could be made.
Following the announcement of District 11’s decision to cease operations effective Jan. 1, the county commissioners held a special work session to discuss the issue prior to their regular meeting Dec. 19. Malm anticipates several such meetings will be necessary before the issue is settled.
Rescue squad formed 40 years ago,
purchased ambulance in 1983
The Valley Falls Rescue Squad members have a maximum of five minutes to reach their ambulance after receiving an emergency call.
“We can do it in two minutes,” Jerry Logsdon said. “Jim Goudzwaard lives right across the street. He’s got the door open and the engine started when I get there.”
Those two paragraphs were the beginning of a story in the Vindicator in June 1983, soon after the Valley Falls Rescue Squad received a state license to operate an ambulance for the Valley Falls and District 11 community.
Hoping to cut the response time it took for an ambulance to arrive from Oskaloosa, community donations poured in. The cost to buy a 1978 Ford 1-ton truck to serve as an ambulance and equip it was $12,000.
The city and township governing bodies agreed to split the cost of fuel and oil and the volunteer firemen donated $2,000 from their relief fund. The ambulance ran without charging patients, but took donations, which were described as generous. Memorials from funerals were averaging $500.
Those awarded state certification as Emergency Medical Technicians in January 1982 were Jerry Logsdon, Jim Goudzwaard, Pat Petesch, and Bill Vigneron. They joined EMTs David Twitchell, Ted Montgomery, Ron Kimberlin, and John Hayworth.
This group organized as a formal rescue squad with Logsdon as its first chairman. Dr. James Rider was an adviser to the group.
The rescue squad responded to 40 emergency calls in 1982 before it had an ambulance.