Medibart

Wishing everyone a very Merry Christmas and a safe and prosperous New Year.* * This represents wishes on behalf of the sender and is no way binding upon the recipient. The recipient may or may not choose to have an actually Merry Christmas or a Happy New Year and may choose to be sad and miserable on either day. Furthermore, said recipient may choose not to celebrate either holiday and may therefore substitute said wishes for any other Winter Holiday such as Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, Winter Solstice Day, Festivus, Boxing Day, Eid ul-Adha, or any other such holiday. The recipient should accept the sender's apologies for not including the recipient's personal choice for Winter Holiday, the aforementioned list is not meant to be unabridged. If the recipient does not celebrate any Winter Holiday, the recipient may use these wishes for their choice of holidays throughout the year. If the recipient does not celebrate any holiday, please do not interpret the sender's intentions as culturally insensitive but instead accept the sender's general good wishes. It is understood by the sender that not everyone celebrates the New Year on January 1. Therefore, if the recipient uses any number of other Non-Gregorian calendars such as, but not limited to, the Hebrew, Islamic, Chinese, Hindu or Zoroastrian calendars, they may accept my wishes for your particular beginning of the new year. If anyone has been culturally offended by my message, they may register their complaint with my cultural sensitivity officer - ONEEYEDMEDIC.

This is from the Lehigh Valley/ Allentown area of Pennsylvania. Ice from truck smashes ambulance, hurting 2 in crew Seven other ice chunk accidents reported. No drivers stopped. By Pamela Lehman | Of The Morning Call December 20, 2007 Two ambulance crew members were hurt when a large chunk of ice flew off a passing truck, crashed through their windshield and hurtled to the back of their ambulance Wednesday in East Allen Township. Because the Hanover Township, Northampton County ambulance crew was not seriously injured, state police said they could not cite the truck driver for failing to clear his vehicle. A 2006 law states a driver can be charged and fined as much as $1,000 if falling ice causes serious injury or death. ''Really, what's it going to take until they change that law?'' asked township Fire Chief Scott Milham. ''They are very lucky they weren't killed, because that ice really did some damage to the ambulance.'' The ice chunk, which police estimated was 3 feet by 2 feet, hit the ambulance with such force it crushed the windshield and a camera mounted to the front dash and sprayed ice pieces and shards of glass throughout the vehicle, Milham said. Police said the driver of the truck, Earl Seese II of Easton, failed to stop at the scene. State police at Bethlehem said they had reports from seven other drivers across the Valley whose vehicles were struck with flying ice on Monday. All of the chunks of ice came off tractor-trailers and none of the trucks stopped, police said. Those reports were in addition to six released earlier by state police at Bethlehem and Hamburg. They happened Monday in the Valley and Berks County and involved ice falling off rigs and a sport utility vehicle. At the ambulance accident scene Wednesday morning along Route 329 in East Allen, ambulance Capt. Karen Van Why made hurried phone calls and pointed at the shattered windshield. "That is what happens when they don't clear the ice," she said. Her crew had been in "non-emergency mode," without the emergency lights or siren on, Van Why said. "They were just trying to do their jobs and go to a call." According to state police at Bethlehem: Seese was driving the tractor portion of a tractor-trailer east on Route 329 around 11:15 a.m. when the ice chunk flew off the roof and hit the ambulance. The ambulance was responding to a medical call and traveling west on the highway. The ambulance driver, Jessica Strivelli, 22, of Saylorsburg, had moderate head injuries. Her passenger, Danielle Westgate, 25, of Bethlehem, had minor hand cuts. Two passing motorists saw the ice fly off the truck. One called in Seese's license plate, and the other followed behind and told police what direction the truck was going until police pulled it over. Police said Seese's truck was eventually stopped on Airport Road at Route 22. Seese could not be reached for comment Wednesday. Hours after the crash, Westgate said she and her partner had both been released from St. Luke's Hospital-Fountain Hill after treatment. She said the trucking industry should be responsible for de-icing. "Fine the companies, not necessarily the drivers, because it's not always the driver's responsibility," Westgate said. "Money talks and if companies are being fined for this, you'll start to see reform." State Sen. Lisa Boscola, D-Northampton, said the current state legislation had been weakened by special interest groups within the trucking industry who argued drivers would be hurt or killed trying to climb their rigs to remove ice. "I've gotten some calls from truckers who are sympathetic to the problem," she said Wednesday, "but said their companies won't invest in ice-removing equipment."

Was this the other one you were speaking of? Ambulance corps shutdown leaves residents anxious By Simon Shifrin Times Herald-Record December 20, 2007 Otisville — Otisville and Mount Hope residents face stark options in coming months with the shutdown this week of their volunteer ambulance corps. Regional EMS of Middletown, a nonprofit, has taken over as the primary life support provider in the town and village for the time being. But under the current arrangement, Regional's response times in the area can range from five to 25 minutes depending on the weather, the location of ambulances and the location of the call, said Mike Witkowski, Regional's Orange County chief of operations, speaking at a brainstorming meeting last night at Mount Hope Town Hall. Rescuers talk about the "golden hour," he said, where a trauma victim has about an hour to get to the hospital to have the best chance of survival. "What you're doing right now is basically playing Russian roulette," he said. "What's best for this town is to guarantee subsidized service, guarantee your residents an ambulance response." That would mean that the town and village would hire Regional, or another EMS company, to staff a full-time ambulance in the town. That could cost taxpayers more than $300,000 or about $200 per year per $100,000 of assessed property value, officials estimated last night. Before this week's shutdown of the volunteer ambulance corps, Regional had already become the de facto life support provider in the area. With its eight volunteers, the local corps had only been staffing one 12-hour shift per week. In the late 1990s, the corps had a full crew of 20-30 volunteers who would respond to calls 24 hours every day, said Capt. Dan Dodd. But demands have grown on EMTs in recent years, with certification requirements and the time spent on calls. And the corps was operating on a shoestring budget of $33,000 per year. Since 1983, the corps operated out of a closet in the cramped Otisville firehouse, which also maintains a bay for one ambulance. With no crew quarters, volunteers had to respond to calls from home. And just to use the bathroom at the firehouse, they had to have a special key. Dodd said it's a "miracle" the corps survived as long as it did. "It's hard to run your business out of somebody else's closet," he said. sshifrin@th-record.com

Hurleyville is part of the Town of Fallsburg in Sullivan County. There used to be six ambulance corps in the town, Hurleyville being one of them. Loch Sheldrake, Fallsburg and Woodridge all previously folded and now Hurleyville. Mountaindale and Woodbourne are still left. I used to work Mobile Medic and quite frankly, it never made sense to me to have six very small agencies, some of which were doing fewer than 100 calls a year, rather than 1 stronger townwide entity. I think consolidation and regionalization is the answer for some smaller ambulance corps. I remember there being nice people in Hurleyville, so hopefully they can get their act back together.

This is not grant money, this is Medicare reimbursement. All it says is that if you currently recieve $200 for each Medicare bill submitted, you will now recieve $200 + 5% ($210). If you do not bill, you do not get anything. The money will be spent the same way as any of your agency's other insurance billables received: staff, fuel, supplies, capital expenditures etc. It's not a ton of money though. A very rough estimate - if your agency transports 1000 patients, probably 45% of them are Medicare patients so that's 450 transports. On the average, your agency probably receives about $270 per patient. Five % of that is $13.50 x 450 transports = $6075. So roughly $6000 per 1000 transports or $6 per transported patient. So if you run with a VAC that transported 400 patients so far this year, you would have received an extra $2400. Agencies doing more non-emergency transports probably have a higher percentage of Medicare patients. Agencies with long transport distances will have higher averages due to mileage, but it's a rough estimate.

I personally reminded the good senator of how this bill will benefit the workers, not just allow agencies to buy equipment, fuel etc, at the rally in White Plains. Obviously Chuck and Hillary are in favor of this, I strongly suggest everyone contact their Representative (if you don't know who that is smack yourself in the head then go to http://www.house.gov/ and look it up) and tell them to support this bill. This change would not only affect Medicare reimbursement but will probably also cue the privates to increase also as they tend to follow the lead of Medicare. While 5% is not a huge increase, it's at least nice to see legislation that directly benefits EMS.

First off I have to agree with the suggestion that we should not be throwing around accusations or assumptions. The investigation is not complete. While it certainly sounds like the driver fell asleep, we don't know if it was this crew's first call of the night or 5th call. We don't know if either crew member was on their first shift for the week or their 5th. So the apparent suggestion that this crew was driven to the point of exhaustion by an uncaring, profit hungry company is really nothing more than vitriolic conjecture and is somewhat inappropriate in my view. I'm not defending anyone, I simply do not know exactly what the facts are and I'd rather reserve judgement until I have all the facts. This accident was an absolutely horrible tragedy. I never met Matt but I have to say I've rarely seen such an outporing of compliments about a person. It seems like Matt was a very special person, which makes this that much harder to bear. By the way, very nice service yesterday. I was truly impressed by the EMS showing. I saw agencies from all over the Hudson Valley and even the Albany area and New York City. Like I said in my condolence note, the way to properly honor Matt is to try to learn from the incident and hopefully try to prevent it. It's easy to say well the answer is pay people more and work them less but it really is not that simple. We all say that we didn't get into EMS for the money and that we understood that EMS was a low paying profession. We all also still complain about it. We all need to learn to live with it because it is something that is probably not going to change soon. The reason for this is NOT companies making profits. Most companies are losing money or barely making a profit. If you believe otherwise, you really are sorely misinformed. It's not just me saying this, the General Accounting Office of the United States Government issued a report recently that stated ambulance companies operate at a loss every time they pick up a Medicare patient. Since most of our patients are Medicare patients it's really difficult to believe anyone can make money doing transports. Most private insurances and obviously Medicaid pay even less than Medicare does. The number one problem for most EMS companies is employee attrition. If I don't have employees I can't run buses. If I can't run buses, I can't pick up patients. If I can't pick up patients, I can't make money. Therefore, you would think that a smart businessman, if he had the money, would work on fixing employee attrition. Quite simply, the money isn't there. Even if the money was there, there are medics making $30 an hour who still work crazy per-diem hours. If EMTs could be brought up to that level, would they be any different? I truly wish everyone was making the money they deserve but we'd all still probably spend our nights working somewhere else if we could. Until Medicare and other insurance providers significantly increase their reimbursements ambulance companies will remain in their precarious financial positions and more of them will be closing. If you work for an EMS agency that relies on billing for funds, there is no issue that concerns you more in your life than this one, so vote accordingly. So scheduling is another issue. I do the schedule for my company and I can tell you this: the top requests from people are #1 I want to do a 24, #2 If I can't do a 24 I want to at least do a 16, #3 I want to do overnights. I know throughout my EMS career I always preferred working nights. Not once did one of my bosses, and I worked for several private, for-profit agencies, force me to work an overnight. I chose to do them. Was I happy if I slept all night? Absolutely! I still am (I still work per-diem several nights a week). Do I feel entitled to be paid to sleep all night? Absolutely not. If we were to close down at night, the people that chose to work nights would be out of luck and patients would not be moved. Guess what? Patients need to be moved 24 hours a day. Our patients have a right to not have to sit in an ER all night and our ERs need to be able to clear beds for new patients. I understand that no one wants to be woken up at 4 in the morning to take someone home from the ER, hell, I don't want to be woken up at 4 am to take someone TO the ER. But if the calls weren't there, the crews wouldn't be needed. If the crews weren't needed, PEOPLE WOULD LOSE THEIR JOBS. This idea that somehow we should pick and choose the calls that we think deserve our attention is ridiculous. We are a service industry and we respond when requested. Whether it is a heart attack or a take home, both services are important to our patients and the facilities. I care deeply for the people I work with and I never want to be the one to receive a call like the Empire State management received last week. I hope I have the wisdom to learn from Matt's sacrifice and prevent this tragedy from reoccuring. I do know, however, that the answers are not easy ones. I also know that it's not right to throw around premature blame here. To only get half the story would do Matt and his family a disservice. If anyone has any truly creative and interesting thoughts on the issue I'd love to hear them.

It is with profound sadness and deep regret that I announce the passing of Brian Motyka, former WEMS EMT and son of current WEMS Paramedic and Phelps Hospital EMS Instructor Mike Motyka. Brian died tragically on Wednesday, Sept. 12th due to injuries from an auto accident that day. Visitation will take place on Monday from 2pm - 4pm and from 7pm - 9pm at: Smith, Seaman and Quackenbush Funeral Home 117 Maple Ave Monroe, NY Directions are available on their website at http://www.ssqfuneralhome.com Funeral Mass will be held on Tuesday at 1000am at: Sacred Heart Church 26 Still Road Monroe, NY Directions are available on their website at http://www.sacredheartchurch.org/ There will be an EMS procession from the Funeral Home to the Church. Any agency that would like to participate in the procession should contact Al Garavito at 914-447-1657 or Scott Glaessgen at 914-447-6950. We will be meeting at WEMS HQ, 444 E. Main St., Mt Kisco at 700am on Tuesday for breakfast and will be leaving for Monroe at 730am sharp. If you are part of a Rockland or Orange County agency, I will have more information for an EMS gathering point, email or call me for details. My email is sglaessgen@stellarishealth.org.

EMERGENCY MEDICAL TECHNICIANS Full-Time Positions DISPATCHERS Full-Time and Per-Diem Positions WESTCHESTER EMS Positions available in: Mt. Kisco, Bronxville, Sleepy Hollow and Somers Westchester EMS, a Westchester based non-profit emergency medical services ambulance company, which provides emergency paramedic service, basic and advanced life support ambulances and dispatching services in the Northern Westchester area, is accepting applications for EMT and Dispatcher positions. NYS Certification and a valid driver’s license with a clean driving record are required. Upon hire, WEMS is offering:  up to $1500 $IGN ON BONU$ for Full-Time EMTs  up to $13.00 per hour (depending on experience)  top-notch benefits as listed below Company and Supplemental Benefits include: Medical Benefits Short-Term Disability Two Weeks Paid Vacation Dental Benefit Long-Term Disability Six Legal Holidays Life Insurance Tuition Reimbursement Six Personal Holidays Credit Union Paid Training Twelve Sick Days Discounted Gym Membership Discounted Auto Insurance EVOC Training Employee Recruitment Reward Program 403b Tax-Sheltered Annuity Retirement and Savings Plan with employer match To apply for a position, please visit our website at westchesterems.org or call (914) 765-0101 or (914) 244-0382 X14 Employment is contingent upon a satisfactory DMV, Background Check, Physical and Drug Screening, and proper NYS Certification. Westchester EMS is an Equal Opportunity Employer We do not discriminate based on race, color, religion, creed, sex, age, sexual orientation, national origin, marital status, disability, or military or veteran’s status in accordance with federal, state and local law.

Let's say the cost is on the low side $500K. They are running it 60 hours a week which is about 35% of a full week which is 168 hours. So let's say the cost is 35% of $500K which is $175K, though some of the costs i.e. the vehicle and insurance are the same regardless of how many hours the truck is run. The town is paying about $112K that leaves a $63K gap which has to come from billing. If you're lucky your average collection is probably about 300 bucks. That means to make $63K you'd have to do 210 transports, and that's transports, not calls. I don't know PV's call volume but I'd guess it is somewhere about 500 calls given a population of 9000. How many of them result in transports to the ER and how many of those are during the hours they are there, I dunno, but it's probably somewhere around 200ish. So probably at best they are running break even and may still be losing money. I don't see how they can be making any money, much less anything extravagant. Compare that to a bill of 12K a year and they could easily be losing $100K a year on the contract. I think anyone can see why any company would not tolerate that forever.

Deepest condolences to the friends, family and co-workers of Mike. RIP

When a man becomes a fireman his greatest act of bravery has been accomplished. What he does after that is all in the line of work. ~Edward F. Croker Deepest condolences to the friends, family and brothers of FF Graffagnino.

True heroism is remarkably sober, very undramatic. It is not the urge to surpass all others at whatever cost but to serve others, at whatever cost. - Arthur Ashe May we celebrate Robert's life, live by his example and rest easier knowing he watches over us.

I'm not pissed off about it, nor do I think anyone should be forced to march in a parade they don't want to - my point was when you say things like "I've dealt with finding bodies in burning buildings, traffic accidents with kids, but I've never been so stressed out before until this incident," it makes you look really anti-gay and therefore creates a situation whereby people can accuse you or your department of bias in responding to their emergencies. What you do on your own time out of uniform is one thing, what you do or say when you are representing your department is an entirely different matter. I have my own opinions about the war but I would never go to a demonstration in my uniform for either side of the issue. I'm not judging anyone's position on the war - that's everyone's own thing, I'm just giving my opinion for supporting either side in an official capacity.

I'm really unsure of how giving water to people protesting against people protesting the war (not protesting the troops) is supporting the troops - just can't make the connection myself. The concern I would have if I was an officer in the department is this: what if tomorrow a house belonging to one of the Anti-War protesters burned down. If I was that homeowner I would have to wonder - did the fire department slow their response because they saw me protesting the war or maybe they didn't work quite as hard as they could have to save my house. Why put yourself or your department in a potential position like that? Why give the media fodder to attack your department and it's members with accusations of bias in how you carry out your duties. The same thing applies to the firemen who said they were more comfortable dealing with burning babies than being around the gay members of their community. If I was a gay person in San Diego I'd wonder if I was going to get the same level of service from my fire department as a non-gay person. Just remember we are all public servants and I emphasize the word servant. We are there to serve all of our community, not just the people we like or agree with.

Many people look at this as a simple problem but it really isn't. The pertinent questions are: What is an emergency? - this is a very subjective question with no established protocols. Someone would have to create a standardized protocol and then train all of the staff to follow them. We'd also have to assume that the staff is capable of assessing the situation and we all know that that is not always the case. There's also a potential for liability on whomever develops the protocols. As often as a 911 agency is called for a non-emergency, a transport agency is called for a non-emergency that should definitely have been an emergency. If it is an emergency, what is an acceptable ETA? - again this is subjective and situational. If a transport agency is running efficiently, they probably won't have many ambulances sitting around to service a 911 call, so oftentimes these calls end up being scheduled. Is the patient stable enough to wait? Our general practice is that we work with the local EMS agency to jointly provide the service. If we can respond with an appropriate ETA we will, otherwise we contact the local EMS agency or advise the caller to dial 911. While we like the business, we have no interest in having an emergent patient wait for us. It's just not what we are about. There really needs to be a three party dialogue between the local EMS agency, the transport agency and the facility administration. It's irresponsible for a transport agency to try to take sole responsibility for a facility unless they have dedicated 911 units. It's also irresponsible for a 911 agency to try to shirk their responsibility to service a facility in their area. By working together, a transport agency and a 911 agency can develop a method to provide the appropriate level of service to the patient.

Westchester EMS will be having an open house on Tuesday, August 14th. We will have three sessions at 1000, 1300 and 1600. This is an opportunity to come and learn about WEMS and find out what we are about and what we have to offer. If interested you can get an interview right on the spot. The open house will be at our HQ at 444. E. Main St., Mt. Kisco (right next to Northern Westchester Hospital). FOOD WILL BE SERVED! WEMS is currently hiring full time and per-diem EMTs and per-diem dispatchers. Full-time EMTs are eligible for a $1500 $ign on bonu$. Applicants must possess current certification and a clean driving record. For more information go to our website - www.westchesterems.org or contact me at sglaessgen@stellarishealth.org or 914-244-0440x14.

Geez Rob you are getting downright cranky as you get older. Maybe it's time for a Jameson's socket shot. Why are you getting me mixed up in your little tirade? ScarVAC stopped that practice many years ago. One good thing they do is either they have someone on or they don't. If they don't they go mutual aid, no paging and praying. I can't remember the last time I didn't have someone on with me. If they can't find a volunteer driver, they'll pay an EMT or if absolutely necessary a medic to drive. Again it's better than hoping someone shows as you page and page. Now if we can only get into the new building....

I saw Sicko last Saturday when it was at one theater in the country in NYC and I liked it a lot. This issue is something that touches anyone that works for an EMS service that bills. Being a person that sees the reports from billing I can't tell you the number of ridiculous denials from private insurance companies that come in or the companies that pay $100 or less for a $500 ambulance bill. What does that mean? That means less pay for staff and less money for equipment and vehicles. Your paycheck is directly effected by the policies of the insurance companies. Meanwhile, I know that our company's medical plans for families costs just over $1000 a month. That's money that otherwise would be going to the employees as pay. So the money saved in taxes by not having a national health service is taken from your paycheck anyway and given to insurance companies making enormous profits. It's been said that New York City has some of the best hospitals in the world and I would agree with that, no one is arguing that fact. The problem is not the quality of those hospitals, it's access to them. Access to the highest levels of care is based on your ability to pay for them either by cash or through insurance. The stories told in the movie are heartbreaking. Examples of people being denied literally life-saving treatment and therefore dying due to lack of insurance. That is not a democrat or a republican issue, it is neither liberal nor conservative, it is simply human. One of the points that is made in the movie is that we already have socialist institutions. Our fire departments, our municipal ambulances, our police departments, our libraries and many other services are socialized. Imagine if your house was on fire and the fire department asked you to show a pre-authorization from your fire insurance company to put out the fire. My taxes pay for fire service I've never used, police service I've never used and for schools and I don't have any kids. Why couldn't it be the same for medical care? The bottom line is Michael Moore's movies are documentaries, they are not news reports. They are told from his point of view, well really much like most of our news is now anyway. Just like the news, especially corporately owned media outlet news, you shouldn't take what Michael says as dogma. You should listen to it, take it in, digest it, learn about it and then decide for yourself. Anytime they bring up socialized medicine in the regular media you hear about long waits, poor care, underpaid doctors and all that. Each one of those ideas are challenged by this movie. Is it possible that all we've been told on the news is wrong or exaggerated? All I can say is that there are a lot of people who would benefit greatly by Americans believing that socialized medicine is a disaster and that alone makes me question the motives of those that would speak against it. We should always question the motives of people that are getting rich by keeping us frightened and ignorant. All I knew about socialized medicine before was what I heard on the news but now I'm thinking that maybe there might be a better way. I think that's all Michael wants is for us to think. See the movie or don't see the movie, but keep an open mind to the issues discussed in them and learn more about them. Like I said, you're paycheck depends on it.

EMT, Dispatcher and Paramedic Openings Westchester EMS is the ambulance department for the four Stellaris hospitals - Lawrence, Northern Westchester, Phelps and White Plains. Additionally we operate the paramedic fly-car system for the 8 towns in the scenic Northeast corner of the county. We are a not for profit entity. We offer competitive pay and an excellent benefit package including a top notch Oxford Medical Insurance plan with very low employee contribution, dental insurance, life insurance, long term disability insurance, matched 403B plan, additional pension, uniforms, tuition reimbursement, reduced auto insurance, gym membership reimbursement, bonuses and many more benefits. FT employees also receive vacation time, personal time, paid holidays and sick time. We also offer very flexible scheduling options. Our base of operations is in Mt. Kisco, approximately 45 minutes north of New York City. We are looking for EMTs and paramedics who thrive in a customer service oriented environment. WEMS is a hospital oriented organization and is not a typical commercial service. Full time and per-diem positions are currently available. Applicants must have current EMT or Paramedic certification in NYS or be eligible for reciprocity. Applicants also must possess a clean driver's license. We do not offer EMT or Paramedic training, applicants MUST possess current certification. Dispatcher positions are also available. Would you like to learn more? Message me here or email me at sglaessgen@stellarishealth.org or call 914-244-0440 x 14 or go to our website www.stellarishealth.org and fill out an application. Scott T. Glaessgen Operations Supervisor Westchester EMS

Westchester EMS is the ambulance department for the four Stellaris hospitals - Lawrence, Northern Westchester, Phelps and White Plains. Additionally we operate the paramedic fly-car system for the 8 towns in the scenic Northeast corner of the county. We are a not for profit entity. We offer competitive pay and an excellent benefit package including a top notch Oxford Medical Insurance plan with very low employee contribution, dental insurance, life insurance, long term disability insurance, matched 403B plan, additional pension, uniforms, tuition reimbursement, reduced auto insurance, gym membership reimbursement and many more benefits. FT employees also receive vacation time, personal time, paid holidays and sick time. We also offer very flexible scheduling options. We are looking for EMTs and paramedics who thrive in a customer service oriented environment. WEMS is a hospital oriented organization and is not a typical commercial service. Full time and per-diem positions are currently available. Would you like to learn more? Message me here or email me at sglaessgen@stellarishealth.org or call 914-244-0440 x 14. Scott T. Glaessgen Operations Supervisor Westchester EMS

I don't know what company you are speaking of but I hope this is just a misunderstanding. I can't imagine doing this to people.

If an EMS agency (of any type) tells a community they can provide EMS for free or very inexpensively, then I don't think it's wrong for a community to expect that service for free or very inexpensively. We, as EMS providers, have a responsibility to the communities we serve to properly educate them as to the need and the actual cost of providing EMS. Without us providing that education, how can you blame a community for being uneducated? The costs of running an ALS ambulance 24 hours a day can easily be in the $5 - 600,000 range. To offset that entirely given a generous average collection of $300 per transport (not per call - RMAs, cancelled calls, standbys etc don't count). To offset the full cost that would mean you would need 1667 - 2000 transports per year. If you were running that kind of volume, more than likely you would have a lot of difficulty covering all the calls with one bus, especially if you have any length of transport time. How an agency can run a 24/7 ALS bus that costs that much money and charge a community 0, 15, 25 or even 125 thousand, without the necessary transport volume to offset the cost, and not lose a lot of money on the deal is really a mystery to me. But I don't necessarily blame a community for saying yes when an ambulance company promises to provide the service for free or at a loss. Hopefully, other communities will look at the experience in Pawling and be wary and see the dangers in the deal that sounds too good to be true.

Don't forget: Benefit time - the employees take vacations and sick days, some of which is covered by OT OT - crews get late calls Supervision Training time - mandatory and other compensated training sessions Insurance Vehicle depreciation Vehicle costs - gas, repairs, insurance etc. Equipment depreciation - lifepaks ain't cheap Billing charges (8-12%) Uniforms You're right - a lot of other communities are going to have to deal with the same "sticker shock" as commerical providers decide that doing EMS for free is bad business.

Westchester EMS is the ambulance department for the four Stellaris hospitals - Lawrence, Northern Westchester, Phelps and White Plains. Additionally we operate the paramedic fly-car system for the 8 towns in the scenic Northeast corner of the county. We are a not for profit entity. We offer competitive pay and an excellent benefit package including a top notch Oxford Medical Insurance plan with very low employee contribution, dental insurance, life insurance, long term disability insurance, matched 403B plan, additional pension, uniforms, tuition reimbursement, reduced auto insurance, gym membership reimbursement and many more benefits. FT employees also receive vacation time, personal time, paid holidays and sick time. We also offer very flexible scheduling options. We are looking for EMTs and paramedics who thrive in a customer service oriented environment. WEMS is a hospital oriented organization and is not a typical commercial service. Full time and per-diem positions are currently available. Would you like to learn more? Message me here or email me at sglaessgen@stellarishealth.org or call 914-244-0440 x 14. Scott T. Glaessgen Operations Supervisor Westchester EMS