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BELLEFONTE -- May 21-27 is recognized annually as Emergency Medical Services week and is used as a way to honor those who step up to help those in need. The Centre County Board of Commissioners looked to honor local EMS workers this week.
This year's theme for EMS week is "EMS, where emergency care begins."
"Everyone in Centre County relies on EMS. It doesn't matter which corner of the county you're in, if you have an emergency and you need an ambulance, an EMT or paramedic... They rely on you," said Commissioner Steven Dershem. "We all have to support the EMS… I can't imagine a world that didn't have an EMS in it. It doesn’t take long to figure out how many lives that would cost if we were to lose the services we value so much in our county."
The emergency medical services system consists of first responders, emergency medical technicians, paramedics, emergency medical dispatchers, firefighters, police officers, educators, administrators, pre-hospital nurses, emergency nurses, emergency physicians, trained members of the public and other out-of-hospital medical care providers.
Scott Rhoat, executive director/chief of Bellefonte EMS and president of Centre County Ambulance Association, was one of the many speakers at the Centre County Commissioners meeting who spoke about the hard work emergency medical service workers do.
"(The theme is) very true," said Rhoat. "Many times we're the first individuals on scene other than a bystander or family member. In Centre County there are 13 licensed EMS agencies, and we respond to over 25,000 emergencies per year within the county -- that’s 68 per day or more."
"EMS is the safety net for many of the folks in our community... Over the last few years that safety net is failing. The system overall is fragile. It's not just Centre County, it is a state-wide issue and, to varying degrees, a national issue," said Rhoat. "That all comes back to sustainable funding and staffing. It's difficult to attract staff when there isn't adequate funding to pay a living wage."
Scott Rawson, executive director of Centre LifeLink EMS, briefly spoke as well.
"Last year Centre LifeLink had the busiest year we've ever had - 7,123 responses. Of those, we had 770 calls that were outside of our primary service area assisting other services," Rawson said.
"Our volunteer corps went from 10,500 down to 5,000. As the calls went up, the volunteer numbers went down," said Rawson. "One thing we're doing is we've increased the number of EMT training programs -- we just finished our winter class and started a summer class with 16 enrolled."
Connie Holt with Pine Glen Fire Company Quick Response Service (QRS) also spoke on behalf of all Quick Response Services in the county.
"There's three (QRS) in the county, Pine Glen, Howard and Miles Township. We're located in areas where an ambulance takes longer than 15 minutes to get to our location. We're all volunteers and receive no reimbursements. If we use equipment such as an oxygen mask we get it from the ambulance service but there is no billing from us," said Holt.
Every ambulance service in Centre County has a membership or subscription that runs for a year. It's relatively inexpensive, according to Rhoat, and it functions as a secondary insurance.
"It prevents any out-of-pocket expense you may have that your health insurance does not cover like copays and deductibles. Every ambulance service has different pricing, but an estimate for an individual, it may be $40-60 for a membership. Those are ballpark ranges. Many ambulance services recognize the membership from their neighboring service," said Rhoat.
Rhoat and the commissioners recommend that community members find your local ambulance service, give them a call or stop in and purchase a membership. It serves as both a fundraiser for the EMS providers, and has a tangible benefit for those buying it.
"The needs of Emergency Medical Services is an issue we've been talking with legislators about. Sustainable funding for these services is a critical component of public safety," said Commissioner Amber Concepcion, "It seems pretty basic to expect that when you call 911 that there is going to be an ambulance able to respond, but that is only the case if we have both volunteers and people willing to go into that career."
In other news:
-- The meeting held a lengthy discussion on Ordinance 2 of 2023 concerning the adoption of certain procedures related to the solicitation and award of Centre County Government public construction contracts valued at $250,000 or more. The discussion contained many comments from members of the public. The ordinance will be made public and a more in-depth article will follow.
-- Centre County Government Offices will be closed Monday, May 29, in observance of Memorial Day.
-- The Board of Commissioners and Salary Board meetings taking place Thursday, June 1, have been canceled.