Residents of the Life First Ambulance District

Some false information on the upcoming Ambulance District Levy has been sent around and the District Board wants to inform you of the facts.

  1. On November 2nd a 2 mills levy will be on the ballot to be collected on real estate. This may generate $775,000 per year and is the only way an ambulance district can collect levy money in Crawford County.
  2. A one-time $20 per capita charge to Townships within the district has been approved to request for this short-term service coverage. The Townships can use their money from the Federal American Relief Act (covid) to pay for this service coverage. These funds are limited as to what they can be used for but can be for patient care and by using these funds it will not affect their regular annual budget.
  3. The service area is large but the run volume is low (averaging 2 runs per day). The current contract is covering 25,000 residents with 2 squads. We will cover 7000 with 1 full-time 24/7 ALS. Mutual aid agreements are in place with surrounding departments in the rare case when more than 1 squad is needed.
  4. The cost is high as is with any ambulance service. The board has worked extremely hard implementing a plan that will be sustainable and more efficient over time for their residents. All options explored would require a levy.
  5. Some townships do have an EMS levy in place. These townships have volunteer fire departments that use this money to provide EMS assistance to the transporting provider.
  6. Any full time ALS ambulance service will respectfully cost the same regardless of the plan. The proposed plan by the district will provide the best long term and cost effective service. Response times will be much better for the majority of the residents, as the ambulance will be centrally located. Currently, response is from Bucyrus City which is 10 miles farther west than the new location.
  7. If the levy fails, full time 24/7 Advanced Life Support WILL NOT be affordable to provide. Coverage will fall on the volunteer fire departments. The district does have an agreement with Pro-Care, a private company that has graciously offered to help us get established by covering the district from 6:00AM to 6:00PM. After 6:00PM, coverage will be left to the volunteer services. The Pro-Care service is ONLY available for 2 months, possibly 3 months. This is NOT a long-term contract and is NOT being charged as one.

 

If you have questions please reach out to your Township Trustee’s or a member of the Life First Ambulance District.

And PLEASE VOTE YES ON THE EMS LEVY NOVEMBER 2nd.