MIDDLEBOURNE – The Tyler County Commission has asked the Middlebourne EMS to address staffing issues and response times.
On January 15, the commission issued a plan for Middlebourne Emergency Medical Service requiring EMS 911 ambulances to carry a minimum of an EMT-B and paramedic. The plan also included other requirements for MEMS.
The commission says it has a “legal duty to provide emergency medical services to all citizens of Tyler County.”
Miller
| Courtesy photo
Middlebourne EMS says it’s unfair for the county to require it to do this without help in paying for it. The county says it will help pay if Middlebourne EMS submits to an audit plan.
During a January 28 commission meeting, the sides agreed to have a special public meeting to try to work through these issues.
Josh Miller with Toriseva Law in Wheeling is representing the county commission. He compared the county’s demands to a business paying the state minimum wage to employees.
“You can pay the minimum wage, but most people make more than that,” Miller told The West Virginia Record. “The county is requiring more than the state-mandated minimum. The county wants more because there are complicated emergency situations, and it wants to make sure its citizens receive the best possible care. …
“The Tyler County Commission is requiring Middlebourne EMS to have an EMT basic and a paramedic on every 911 call to ensure exceptional medical care to its citizens in emergency situations. This does not affect M EMS’s ability to handle inter-hospital transfers.
“The Tyler County Commission hopes Middlebourne EMS will comply with the plan and help provide this needed emergency care.”
In a January 17 statement, Toriseva Law explained the issue.
“According to West Virginia law, the commission has the exclusive authority to determine how those emergency medical services are provided to the citizens,” the firm said in a statement. “The Tyler County Commission has issued a written request to Middlebourne EMS requesting that it address staffing and response times when a citizen calls for emergency services.
“This plan is meant to create a framework for Middlebourne EMS so corrections can be made that benefit the citizens of Tyler County. This plan allows time for MEMS to address the issues outlined in the plan.”
The statement assured residents no emergency medical services would be interrupted during this period and into the future.
“The Tyler County Commission has no ability to dissolve Middlebourne EMS or stop it from undertaking hospital transfers as those transfers are the responsibility of the hospital that requests it,” the statement continued. “The Tyler County Commission is doing its job, following the law, and taking seriously its duty to provide emergency medical services to the citizens of Tyler County.”
Tyler County EMS provides services for a part of the county, and the county has authorized MEMS to serve the rest of the county. Middlebourne is the county seat and the only incorporated town in the county not located along the Ohio River. Tyler County EMS is based in Sistersville, which is 12 miles and about 20 minutes from Middlebourne.
The requirement from the county means a paramedic will be on each ambulance to provide a “high level of care, capable of administering powerful drugs and techniques and can administer basic life support and advanced life support techniques and protocols. In addition, each ambulance will have either a state certified emergency medical technician to perform all duties as the first responder and can perform the full gamut of basic life support and can transport patients to the hospital or care center or a state certified advanced emergency medical technician who also can provide basic life support and some forms of advanced life support.
The county told MEMS to staff the service center with at least the above personnel on an around-the-clock basis so an ambulance can be en route within two minutes of receiving a 911 call. If that can’t be done, the person in charge must call 911 dispatch immediately to request Tyler County EMS respond.
The county also wants MEMS to submit to and cooperate with a financial audit dating to when the 2020 levy was implemented. It also wants MEMS to submit all proposed expenditures over $15,000 for capital outlay to a competitive bidding process, and the same for any expenditure over $25,000 for capital improvement.
Finally, the county wants a copy of all by-laws, articles of incorporation, 501(C) documents, a list of its board of directors and proof of general liability insurance for EMS providers within five days.
The county gives MEMS 30 days to prepare to implement the plan. After 60 days, the county says it will review the actions of MEMS to see if it has complied. If it hasn’t complied, the county says it will take further corrective action that could include removing MEMS from the 911 rotation.
However, an attorney for the Middlebourne EMS said it feels it wasn’t given enough time and does not have enough funding to implement the changes.
“The Middlebourne Emergency Medical Services has been providing ambulance service to the citizens of Middlebourne for decades as a private agency,” attorney Richard N. Beaver of Phillips Gardill Kaiser & Altmeyer told WTRF-TV. “Last year, the Tyler County Commission asked MEMS to join the Tyler County EMS system. MEMS declined. After that, the commission created a rule requiring MEMS to add an additional medical professional to ambulance personnel when responding to 911 calls which will significantly increase costs to operate.
“The West Virginia Code of State Rules do not require the additional medical professional on 911 calls. The commission gave MEMS only 30 days to comply with the commission’s new rule. The commission’s short compliance deadline is difficult to meet, and the commission has not offered to offset the costs of the additional medical professional through the levy election fund. We continue to investigate this matter and have no further comment at this time.”