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Tuesday, December 1, 2009
By DEBBIE HALL - Bulletin Staff Writer
The Henry County Board of Supervisors went on a fact-finding mission Monday to determine how other localities have addressed concerns related to volunteer rescue squads, and board members plan to discuss the issue again in January.
The supervisors heard presentations from officials from three localities: from Franklin County, Administrator Rick Huff and Public Safety Director Daryl Hatcher; from Amherst County, Chris Adams, a member of that county’s board of supervisors and Public Safety Director Gary Roakes; and from Pulaski County, Joe Trigg, director of Regional EMS Inc.
The supervisors scheduled the session as part of an effort to address concerns about providing uniform service and patient care locally.
All presented models that use a combination of volunteer and career EMS providers who are focused on patient care and service delivery.
For example, Roakes said rescue squads in Amherst County operate under a Memorandum of Agreement with the county. Trigg said that technically, he is a Pulaski County employee, but he is supervised by an EMS commission. In Franklin County, Hatcher has oversight of squads.
All three counties’ agencies use “revenue recovery,” or soft billing, to raise funds to help offset expenses, and each also receives funds from their respective localities.
Under soft billing, a rescue squad first bills a patient’s insurance company or health coverage provider for transport services. The patient is responsible for the remainder of the costs, but a squad generally does not seek collections if the person cannot pay.
Although there were bumps in the road when combining career EMS staff with existing volunteer squads, each speaker said the decision was made based on supply and demand.
“The supply of volunteers was going down, and the demand (for service) was going up,” Roakes said. That resulted in inconsistent coverage and delayed response times, and the resources of other agencies were depleted, he said.
Squad officials in Amherst approached county officials about the situation, and both agreed to assess it, Roakes said.
The key to addressing concerns was reaching a consensus that problems existed, he said.
When rescue service is needed, residents don’t care whether squad members are paid or volunteer, Roakes said, adding that in Amherst, captains of volunteer squads still maintain control of volunteers and have some control of career staff assigned to the respective squads.
Hatcher, who is a Henry County resident and a life member of the Fieldale-Collinsville Rescue Squad, said the system in Franklin County “is a seamless system,” and residents “can’t tell career from volunteer” when squads respond.
But he noted that “basically, you have to have someone in charge to make decisions,” and he is that person.
“Each volunteer agency runs its own agency. I don’t need to get into the minutiae of how as long as it’s done within the guidelines” established by the county to answer calls and provide a certain level of care, he said.
With administrative and fundraising tasks left to Hatcher, the burden is reduced for volunteers, he said.
“All we ask volunteers is to maintain training, get training and answer calls. That’s it,” he said.
Trigg said that in Pulaski County, a board of representatives from the local hospital, community and others works with him to oversee rescue squads, which include career members and volunteers. He said that although some volunteers were lost when the new system was created, those lost did not run calls anyway, but rather were the ones who showed up at meetings and “beat their chests.”
Volunteers who were interested in running calls and providing service remained after the new system went into effect, he said.
Sometimes in similar cases, Roakes said there is a perception that the county is trying “to take over. No, it’s not.” Rather, county officials are trying to help ensure the best services are provided to residents.
“The key is, you’ve got to stay focused” on that goal, Trigg said.
The speakers also took questions from Henry County supervisors and others who attended the meeting, including several rescue squad members. |
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