Consolidation Study

[FredG]

The politicians in my area have decided to apply for a state grant to perform an EMS Consolidation Study. NYS has advised them that the funding for this study has been approved in the new state budget (even though the DOH has no money to print PCRs or Death Certificates). The goal of this study is to determine possible cost savings and/or service improvements by consolidating 3 volunteer ambulance services. All options are to be considered, including status quo, partial consolidation, total consolidation, staying volunteer, and going to a paid system.

My dept is the largest of the 3 being pulled into this study.

The reason I am posting this is not to have a paid vs volly argument, but rather to get the word out about the RFP to try to get qualified candidates to apply to perform this study. The lead agency for this study has only published this in the local paper's legal notices but the town supervisor said he is open to other committee members posting this as wide as possible in order to get a good candidate selection. There are 8 members on the committe, with 1 representative from each dept and each political entity.

This RFP covers a rural area in Upstate NY comprised of 2.5 towns and 2 villages. The combined area has an approximate population of 7,000 and covers 130 square miles. The 3 departments are all volunteer fire based, transporting BLS agencies. the largest dept has 2 ambulances and 14 active EMTs with 3 more in class, with an avg yearly call volume around 340 calls. The second largest dept does around 230 calls per year with 1 ambulance and 5 EMTs and the smallest dept owns 2 ambulances with 3 EMTs for 65 or so calls per year. The combined call volume for last year was 611 calls. The nearest community hospital is in a neighboring town and the nearest trauma center is 45 miles away. Current ALS service is provided by 2 paid services via fly-car, with a 16-hour unit based in the same town as the hospital and the nearest 24 hour unit is based 25 miles away in the other direction.

For more information, please visit the RFP page at: http://www.cohoctonny.com/EMSGrantRFP

On a side note, I have been fighting the committee to include ALS in this study since 22% of my departments ALS criteria calls have no ALS units available, but some of the politicians have stated that this study is "not for ALS" and that we "don't need ALS because the hospital is so close." I am hoping that the qualified candidates will include the need to ensure ALS coverage in the study.