Disclaimer: I am not writing this piece as a representative of Frontier Ambulance or any of the previous companies I've served with in the EMS industry, nor my advisory capacity on the JCFKS which has since been dissolved. These are my own opinions, insights, perspectives, and views through my own experiences as a citizen of Fremont County, Wyoming.
I've been observing several social media comments and threads on the subject of the 3/4 cent sales tax that is being proposed for transportation, airport, and ambulance services. There seems to be a great lack of knowledge and understanding as to the definition of 'economic development'.
AI provided a short answer for me: "Economic development is the intentional process of improving a community's economic well-being and quality of life through job creation, business retention, infrastructure investment, and skill development. It goes beyond simple growth by fostering sustainable, inclusive, and diverse economies that increase tax bases and support public services." (Bold added.)
When FCAG's Joint Committee on Funding Key Services approached the task before them last October, they took the time out of their busy schedules to research, pour over numbers, and come up with solutions for what they were tasked to do: find a way to fund these key services. Under the very definition of economic development; the services before them included air and ground transportation, and ambulance services. They also understood that the airport and ground transportation (including SafeRides) are important to those who use them, but also understood that the ambulance service was the most critical of the three, and in the end, the proposed sales tax option reflected such.
People really don't know or think about how these three services are connected. Who transports the flight crews from the airport to the hospital, loads them all up, and takes the patients from the hospital to the fixed wing that is waiting at the airport? Ground ambulance. Who transfers patients to other facilities when rotors are grounded due to wind/weather conditions, or are down for maintenance? Ground ambulance. Who takes drunk folks home so they don't drive and get into an accident? WRTA's SafeRides. Who takes patients who don't have a car or cannot drive to their medical appointments? WRTA. It is all connected!
You might have your own car to drive, but there are people who don't or can't drive, and rely on public transportation. You might not use the airport, but there are people and businesses in Fremont County who do. You might think you don't need an ambulance and can just drive someone (or yourself) to the ER, but a lot can happen on the way where you have no control and can cause further injuries to you or the patient. The day can end very differently from when it began with that morning cup of coffee.
"Not I..."
I've run into so many opinionized critics these days who know absolutey nothing about the EMS industry and infect the public with their ignorance, bringing no solutions forward. Then there are folks who actually do ask the questions, genuinely try to understand, and attempt to bring sustainable solutions to the table. That is what this Joint Committee did, and I appreciate FCAG's foresight in forming such a committee that was willing to spend time bringing those solutions forth with transparency, which is more than I can say for the county commissioners who have dropped the ball and basically driven this service (and please excuse the pun)...into the ground.
But is it their fault entirely? No. Not many may think about or even know how we got to this point in the first place, the need to fund key services. There seems to be this pitch forks and torches “throw the baby out with the bathwater” bandwagon pulled by elephants and donkeys when it comes to taxes, as if we still live in some sort of “Read my lips: no new taxes!” fantasyland from the 80s-90s that politically whitewashes the reality of karmic debt cycles.
Enter the story of the Little Red Hen: Who will serve on the JCFKS? "Not I..." Who will weigh in during public comment? "Not I..." Who will do a ride-along and experience a day-in-the-life of an EMT? "Not I..." Who will hold the county commissioners accountable for where the funding of critical programs and services go? "Not I..."
Who weighed in with public comments in March 2016 when the Fremont County Commissioners decided to privatize the ambulance service (signing incremental 5-year contracts with Guardian Flight and AMR/GMR)? Who understood the difficulties and challenges that operations and EMS providers had to go through with each transition? And now it has been five years since Priority-Frontier took the service over…who is asking the county commissioners what the plan is now, as our EMS providers and staff wait pensively to hear their fate? If you can get through to them, let me know. I've tried contacting my own commissioner. Crickets.
FCAG and Joint Committee meetings were open to the public and had public comment sessions. Where was the public when these issues were being discussed? So it's only now that we are doing this "kick-the-dog" blame game, on social media??
Some municipalities might think they can have their own ambulance. But that is not a 'service'; it's a BLS (Basic) ambulance. You still have to staff it (pay a sustainable, competitive wage!), stock it, fuel it, maintain it, pay insurance, licensing and dispatch fees, employ staff to bill. One ambulance...just one...can range in cost from over $350,000 to over $700,000 annually. And once that BLS ambulance reaches the town boundaries with a patient, what ALS (Advanced life saving) ambulance is going to transport that patient to the hospital? Flight? Those costs can skyrocket from $25,000 and up, up and away. And if the patient has no insurance, or can't cover even a portion of the flight?
Back to the drawing board. FCAG saw those ripple effects, saw the critical need, and formed the JCFKS who did a lot of drawing on that board...and the question still is asked: "Who will save the ambulance service?"
"Stupid is as stupid does..."
I know! Forget the definition of economic development; how about the definition of stupidity? How about a full 1-cent sales tax on the stupid sh** that people do every day that require EMS services? If you don't want to fund an ambulance service, stop doing stupid sh**! Stop overdosing on drugs and alcohol. Stop drinking and driving drunk; stop texting and driving. Stop assaulting, beating, stabbing, and shooting each other. Stop speeding and losing control of your vehicles, motorcycles, and ATVs. Stop running stop signs and stop lights; stop hitting pedestrians and cyclists. Stop allowing kids to go without a life preserver on lakes and rivers, or not knowing how to swim. Stop eating sugar and junk food, and going into DKA. Stop having heart attacks and strokes. Stop burning during high peak fire season! Stop taking unnecessary risks. (Man, if I had a dime for every...)
So many critics these days who know absolutely nothing about what our first responders have to see and deal with every single day...yet when it comes to folks actually having to take responsibility for all the sh** they do, there's resistance??
If you don't vote for this 3/4 cent sales tax initiative, that's on you. Just don't be surprised when you dial 911 and an ambulance doesn't show up. You don't know what you've got until it's gone.
If you want to know the truth about your community,
Ask a First Responder.
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