BELLEAIR BLUFFS – Competing proposals to change the county EMS medical transport system are flawed, says Largo Fire Chief Michael Wallace. The plans, one being put forth by County Administrator Bob LaSala and the other by a group of firefighters, are both inferior to the current system that has been in place since 1980, and illegal, Wallace said.
Wallace’s remarks were part of a presentation he gave on the subject at the Nov. 14 Belleair Bluffs City Commission workshop meeting. Largo provides fire services to Belleair Bluffs.
The present county EMS system is working well and does not need to be replaced, despite claims it is no longer sustainable, Wallace told the commission.
The new plan backed by the county would cut $10 million in costs, by eliminating firefighter/paramedic jobs and reducing pay. It also would raise average emergency response time from 4.30 minutes to over 7 minutes. Under the county plan, all municipalities would be paid an “average cost” to provide EMS services. Smaller cities paying less than the average would gain, while larger communities, such as St. Petersburg and Clearwater, would get less money.
The firefighters’ proposal would replace the current Sunstar ambulance transport system with a fire department-based transport.
“I do not want to take on a mission of non-emergency medical transport. That is not a firefighter mission,” Wallace said.
While Wallace finds both EMS change proposals lacking compared to the present system, there is a bigger problem to be faced. Both plans are illegal, Wallace contends.
A state statute (special act) passed in 1980 created the current countywide EMS system with its single ambulance service. It has specific provisions for funding the countywide system with ad valorem taxes and paying local fire districts for first responder services. The statute “defines how the system cannot pay us less or more than what it costs to do business, and we cannot fire ambulance companies,” Wallace said.
Neither proposal for EMS change falls under the law, he said.
Wallace said efforts are under way to change the law, “to allow us to pay less and to let the fire departments provide transport.” But, he said, neither bill has made it anywhere near the House or Senate.
Wallace’s solution is to keep the current EMS system, which he believes is significantly better than either alternative. The system now in place is both cost efficient and effective in saving lives, Wallace said.
A loss of revenue due to declining property values has caused the county to have to dip into reserves over the past few years to pay for the EMS service. That “savings account” money will run out next year, Wallace said.
His advice is to raise county taxes to fund the system.
As the county is at only around one-third of the property tax cap, “we should raise taxes a little more to pay for the system,” Wallace said. EMS services currently cost the average taxpayer $56 a year, Wallace said.
Pinellas County has the highest survival rate (an average 36 percent vs. 10 percent nationwide) of persons going into cardiac arrest than anyplace in the country except Seattle. Wallace believes residents will gladly pay a little more in taxes for a proven superior service.
Mayor Chris Arbutine, who served on the county EMS advisory system, said he has learned the “ins and outs of EMS funding.” He accused LaSala of wanting to dismantle the current EMS system.
Legality aside, Arbutine sees problems with both the county’s and the firefighters’ proposals.
“The county administrator wants to crash the whole system, while the firefighters are going to sneak in and hire 200 more firefighters,” he said.
Ten million dollars in EMS funding is going away under the county plan, Arbutine said. If residents want emergency response time to stay low, local governments will have to step up and pick up the expense, he said. If additional firefighters are hired under the firefighters plan, “we’re still going to have to have more money, to raise taxes.”
Arbutine said the citizens need to ask county officials, “why any change is going on at all, when we have the best system now?”
