WASHINGTON CO. COMMISSIONERS RECEIVE EMS QUARTERLY REPORT

  

Washington County Commissioners heard an update on EMS operations during the department’s fourth quarter report for 2023 on Tuesday.

EMS Director Kevin Deramus broke down call numbers, how they are being categorized to reduce the number of high urgency responses, and the financial picture for the past year.

First discussing calls, Deramus said the department’s volume decreased from 9,143 calls in 2022 to 8,638 last year.  He attributed this to the work done by dispatch and E-911 Director Robyn Hood to improve their triaging of calls, determining which ones need an EMS response and which ones do not.

Deramus showcased the difference in priority dispatching totals during the fourth quarter of 2023, noting that 2022 was the first year that EMS began basing their responses on priority level.  The fourth quarter had 258 responses listed as priority one and 1,081 responses as priority two, both categories meaning a medic unit and/or squad is responding with lights and sirens activated.  In comparison, there were 163 calls listed as priority three and 768 as priority four, defined as a response without lights and sirens.  EMS’ average response time for all priority level calls was 53 seconds, meeting Deramus’ goal of staying under 60 seconds.

Switching to finances, Deramus said the department collected $6.23 million in revenue in 2023.  Of that amount, he said the air ambulance program had $1.35 million in revenue.  The cost for the air ambulance program was $1.48 million, but he said $957,000 is still pending in expected revenue through avenues like the Independent Dispute Resolution (IDR) process, which involves an arbitration board determining what insurance providers pay on claims should they refuse to pay a certain amount.

Deramus mentioned that the department’s 2023 budget was $8.3 million, meaning that with the $6.23 million in revenue received, about $2.1 million of the budget operated off of taxpayer dollars.  He stated the department will always prioritize the wellbeing of patients while being fiscally responsible to taxpayers.

Commissioner Candice Bullock called back to the report given by the county auditor last week which showed that, as a whole, the county collected more revenue than it expended in 2023.  Going back to the EMS department’s 2023 budget, looking at what is funded by taxpayers versus the department’s own revenue, she said that split is “unheard of” and that she doesn’t believe anyone else in the state is running at that level.

Commissioner Kirk Hanath said the EMS service is costing taxpayers the same or less compared to those in surrounding counties, while the quality of the service is superior to those counties.