‘It’s way overdue’: Assembly approves addition of EMS employees, ambulances

PALMER — The Mat-Su Borough Assembly voted 5-1 on Tuesday to approve Ordinance 19-021, which would hire the borough’s on-call staff as full time employees, also staffing two additional ambulances.

The Mat-Su Borough Assembly’s regular meeting started at 6 p.m. after the assembly had a special meeting on Wetland Mitigation at 3. Mat-Su Borough Emergency Medical Services Director Ken Barkley sat in the back of the room, but was up to date on the dire situation of serving the vast Mat-Su Borough with just four ambulances.

“Less than an hour ago we had a three-car accident, two cars and a semi truck. We ended up having to take all of our ambulances to that scene and two extra rescue trucks to that scene, it was that bad,” Barkley said.

The four ambulances currently staffed by MSB EMS are stationed in Palmer, Wasilla, and two in the lakes area. The addition of two ambulances would allow for one to be permanently staffed in Talkeetna, serving not only that community but all the way to the northern border of the Mat-Su Borough more efficiently. Barkley said that he believes this would cut wait times in half. When on-call staff would have to respond from home to the ambulance and then leave, full time staff would be able to respond immediately. The ordinance stated that It is anticipated that a mostly full time model would result in a 50 percent increase in coverage with a nominal increase in personnel costs, as well as enabling the department to put two more ambulances into service on a regular basis. MSB EMS will now be able to hire 17 EMT II’s, four paramedics and four battalion chiefs. More than a dozen EMS staff members were present at the meeting and recognized for their service to the Mat-Su Borough. Twice that many were present at the March 5 meeting, when the vote on 19-021 was pushed due to lengthy air quality public testimony. As Mat-Su Borough Mayor Vern Halter calmly rolled through unfinished business, he asked if there was any objection to the ordinance.

“Yo!” shouted Assemblyman George McKee.

McKee held contempt throughout discussion over the projected costs of the added EMS staff and ambulances. McKee asked for a spreadsheet detailing the costs and claimed he did not receive it when the other assembly members had. He then quoted Manager John Moosey as saying that the increase would be revenue neutral for three years and pounded his desk as he questioned why it was not revenue neutral.

“We have a community that needs emergency services and we’re having a very difficult time meeting those needs currently,” Moosey said. “This is not padding the budget. There’s not budget to be padded.”

Moosey said that McKee was mistaken and that the increase would likely incur costs up to $250,000 next year, but would not be more expensive this year.

“The ambulance fleet has needed to be upgraded before I took office in 2014. It’s way overdue. I just cannot see us, matter of fact, I think we’re culpable actually if we don’t provide the public with a level of EMS that they’re due. I honestly think that we need eight ambulances,” Assemblyman Dan Mayfield said. “We’re talking about money but we’re really talking about lives and pain and suffering.”

Call volume for ambulances in the Mat-Su Borough has doubled since 2010. The ordinance states that it will be implemented within 30 days of passing.

“I don’t think that this is an inappropriate expenditure. It’s a legitimate service that the Borough is providing with our tax dollars, seems to me that we’re getting fairly good value. If the numbers I was presented are correct, for the increase in service we’re getting, this is a pretty good price for that so I don’t see really a strong reason to oppose this,” Assemblyman Jesse Sumner said.

Barkley recalled how early Tuesday morning, there had been five calls between 1 a.m., and 5 a.m., and that somehow, EMS was able to cover the call volume. Barkley also noted the earthquake on Nov. 30, 2018, as an example of a stressed system. Barkley was asked how much the MSB EMS had already increased the amount of lives it had saved, and Barkley gave credit to EMS leadership for training their full time staff and increasing the amount of lives they saved by 22 percent.

“I’m going to keep a hold of my spreadsheet and I’ll be here for another two and a half years and I’m going to bring it out every time we do the budget so I hope you guys are accurate,” Sumner said.

The ordinance passed 5-1 with only George McKee opposed.

Contact Frontiersman reporter Tim Rockey at tim.rockey@frontiersman.com