Boyceville ambulance district to consider EMT class reimbursement contract
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By LeAnn R. Ralph
BOCYEVILLE — The Boyceville Community Ambulance District Board at next month’s meeting plans to consider a contract with emergency medical technicians regarding reimbursement for EMT classes.
There are two separate issues, said Wayne Dow, EMS chief, at the Boyceville Community Ambulance District Board’s November 10 meeting.
One issue is whether Boyceville should pay for EMT classes up front or whether the students should pay for the classes and then Boyceville reimburses them later, he said.
The second issue is if Boyceville pays for the classes up front, whether the ambulance service should require the EMTs to work for the service for a certain amount of time, and if they do not, then the EMTs are required to pay the ambulance service for the classes, Dow said.
The cost for EMT classes at Chippewa Valley Technical College is $1,487, and the cost at Northwood Technical College (formerly Indianhead Technical College in New Richmond) is $841, he said, adding that the difference in cost is because one of the technical colleges provides books and uniforms and the other does not.
The reimbursement for the classes and the National Registry exam would be about $1,700 all together, Dow said.
The Boyceville ambulance service could ask the students to pay for the classes and registry exam up front , and then if they work so many hours in Boyceville , reimburse them for the cost after six months, he said.
The Boyceville ambulance district also could pay for the cost up front and then ask the EMTs to sign an agreement for two years, and if they leave before that time, the EMT pays Boyceville back, Dow said.
Asking someone to pay $1,700 for the classes and the test, especially for someone who is fresh out of high school — “it’s a chunk of change,” said Chuck Siler, representative for the Town of Tiffany.
The Boyceville ambulance service would probably attract more candidates if Boyceville pays the cost up front and the EMTs sign a contract, he said.
If potential EMTs do not have the money, they might not consider taking the classes, Siler said.
When Dow asked the ambulance district board members how many hours per month they thought the EMTs should work to not have to pay the reimbursement, board members responded, “you tell us.”
Dow said perhaps 40 hours per month, or 480 hours per year, would be a good starting point.
If the EMTs leave to go to another ambulance service after only a couple of months, “we’re stuck,” said Peter Score, representative for the Town of Sheridan and chair of the ambulance district board.
“That’s why we should have a contract,” Dow said.
Score asked if anyone else has a contract requiring EMTs to work for a certain period of time after the ambulance service has paid for the classes.
The Colfax Rescue Squad has a contract for EMTs regarding reimbursement for classes, Dow said.
Members of the Boyceville ambulance district board asked Dow if he could have a contract for them to consider by the next meeting in December.
Dow said he would work on a contract that specifies Boyceville will pay for the EMT classes that also includes the number of hours EMTs are expected to work and how and when the Boyceville ambulance service would be reimbursed for classes if the EMT leaves before the end of the contract period.
The Boyceville Community Ambulance District Board unanimously approved a motion authorizing Dow to pay for EMT classes up front and to work on a contract for the board to consider.
The contract will be an agenda item so members of the ambulance district can change the contract as the board might prefer, Score said.
“It gets the ball rolling,” said Paul Heifner, representative for the Town of Sherman.
Automated CPR
The Boyceville ambulance district board also will consider the purchase of an automated cardio-pulmonary resuscitation device at next month’s meeting.
The cost of the automated CPR device would be between $14,000 and $15,000, Dow said.
CPR is physically demanding, and the automated device is the safest way to provide CPR, he said.
The device delivers consistent chest compressions and never gets tired, Dow said, adding that it is not beneficial for a patient in cardiac arrest when the EMT must stop the chest compressions, check for a pulse and provide breaths, and then go back to chest compressions, then stop again for pulse and breaths.
Standing up and trying to do chest compressions in a moving ambulance, that could, in a rural area, be driving on twisting, winding and hilly roads also is not a very safe situation, Dow said.
The Boyceville ambulance service would trade in an “auto pulse” device, so the most recent quote Dow had received would put the price for the automated CPR device at $14,845.
Dow said the ambulance service does have some money set aside that could pay for the automated CPR device.
The automated CPR device works for people weighing between 120 pounds and 350 pounds, so “one size fits most,” Dow said.
Dow noted he has been working with automated CPR since 2008.
The automated CPR device will be on the agenda for the December meeting.
Audit
In the interests of having a clean slate, so to speak, when Dow first started as the director of the ambulance service, the Boyceville ambulance district board contracted with Clifton Larson Allen to do an audit of the ambulance services books.
The Boyceville ambulance district board has been waiting for the results of the audit for about six months.
Valerie Windsor, clerk-treasurer for the ambulance district, has been reporting for many months that she has left messages for the auditor, Jonathan Sherwood, but that he has not returned her calls.
Score reported at the November 10 meeting that he had finally talked with Sherwood.
Sherwood said he has received the information from the clerk that he needed to conduct the audit, but that in the meantime, he has started working on other audits, Score said.
Sherwood said “it was on him” that the audit has not yet been finished and that he would have the audit in draft form by the end of the month. After the audit is in draft form, it must then be sent to another auditor at Clifton Larson Allen for review, and then once the review is completed, the audit report will be submitted to the Boyceville ambulance district, Score said.
Report
During his report to the ambulance district board, Dow said that so far this year, the Boyceville ambulance service has gone out on 177 runs, with 22 runs since the last meeting.
Out of the calls Boyceville has received, six were covered by Menomonie, and one was covered by Glenwood City. Four of the calls ended up being no transport calls. Boyceville also went on three stand-bys, one patient was treated at the scene with no transport, and one call came in while Boyceville was out on another call, so Menomonie handled the call as mutual aid, Dow said.
The Boyceville ambulance district still has 14 EMTs on the roster, and nine of them are very active, he said.
There is one potential new-hire currently taking classes, and two other people from the community have said they were interested in taking EMT classes next spring, Dow said.
Dow plans to talk to members of the junior class at Boyceville High School in January about becoming EMTs, and there are currently two from the high school who also are planning on taking classes in the spring, he said.
The Boyceville ambulance service has started running advertisements for EMTs — four weeks in the Tribune Press Reporter and two weeks in the Tri-County Advertiser, Dow said.
During the Trunk-or-Treat for Halloween, over 400 kids participated, he said, adding that he only had to make one trip back to the store for more candy.
During the month of October, there was only EMT on call at the ambulance station 35 percent of the time. So far in November, there has been only one EMT 60 percent of the time, Dow said.
If Boyceville could get a couple of people who are certified as an Emergency Medical Responder (EMR), that person could go on calls with an Advanced EMT. EMR is what is taught first in the class, he said.
The Boyceville Community Ambulance District Board meets next on December 8 at 7 p.m. at the Boyceville fire station or immediately following the meeting of the Boyceville Community Fire District Board.
