8 The Dallas Post Dallas, PA Wednesday, October 11, 2000 Paramedics (continued from page 1) “There isn’t enough volume for two units, it would cost too much, and there’s no need for more than one.” The cost of running a para- medic service is over $300,000 per year, which is too expensive for any single ambulance com- pany to support. No decision has been made as of yet, and meetings are being held to discuss the situation and review the paramedic services in the running for the agreement. “We still haven't met with every- body,” VanEtten said. “We're tak- ing this misfortune and are going to use it to our advantage to see how we can make it a better ser- vice. It’s a golden opportunity to make improvements.” i “We have been looking into all the options to see what will be best for the Back Mountain,” said Jack Dodson, Fire Chief of Kunkle Fire and Ambulance. “We want what will be best for our commu- nities both short-term and long- term.” : Dodson said he did not know where the new paramedics will be stationed; whether still at the Medic 1 building in Lehman or somewhere else. It would be up to the paramedic company to de- cide. According to Fatula, if the Back Mountain ambulance com- panies opt to go with APTS, it will continue to station paramedics at - the Medic 1 building. Even if APTS does not get the agreements, it will still be doing transport for the hospitals of the Wyoming Valley Health Care Sys- tem. William Fuchs, interim Presi- dent and CEO of WVHCS, said when the announcement was made that APTS would retain the original WVHCS paramedics who wished to work with them. How- ever, the paramedics refused, and instead are organizing their own company, Northeast Paramedic Services. “We incorporated on Septem- ber 1, and had our inspection for licensure on Friday from the De- partment of Health,” said Dave Prohaska, a WVHCS paramedic and one of the founders of North- east Paramedic Services. “We feel that we can do this. We're trained, and among us we have the man- agement skills.” Prohaska has been a paramedic for nearly 20 years; he said the primary reason he and his colleagues opted to “We want what will be best for our com- munities both short-. term and long-term.” Jack Dodson : Fire Chief Kunkle Fire and Ambulance start a service of their own was to ensure local patients continued to get the kind of quality care they have been accustomed to. “We know the people, we know the area, we're familiar with what's involved,” he said. They know the Back Mountain, too; Prohaska said that when on a call, “95 to 98 percent of the time we know ex- actly where we're going.” Fatula emphasized that if the paramedics change their minds, “the offer of employment will still be out there.” He said that APTS is a full-service company that will provide its own paramedics if need be: “If our guys don’t come up there, we'll put it in the papers and try to get local people.” According to Kevin McDonald, a spokesman for WVHCS, they received 4,000 billable calls from both Back Mountain and the West Side last year. There was a 50-50 split, which means about 2,000 of these calls were from the Back Mountain. VanEtten said Dallas alone gets 900 total ambulance calls per year, 60 percent of which were ALS calls, with the remain- ing 40 percent BLS calls. BLS, or Basic Life Support, is what is pro- vided by the volunteers; ALS — Advanced Life Support — is pro- vided by the paramedics. Volun- teers cannot perform certain pro- cedures (such as blood transfu- sions and IVs) or administer medi- cation, but the paramedics can. McDonald explained the way ‘the billing system works: “The . ambulance company that moves the patient has the right to bill; if our paramedic company provided support, we could submit our bill to the ambulance company. The third-party payer (e.g. insurance company or Medicare) would re- imburse the local ambulance com- pany for both BLS and ALS. That ambulance company would then pay us.” During the last year, the average amount reimbursed to WVHCS by the ambulance com- panies was $165, with the final i How Dallas pool An architect's rendering shows a pool very similar to the one that will be built into the Dallas Middle School. billing determined by the third- party payer. Would the change to a new service affect the cost to the pa- tient? VanEtten said it wasn’t likely. “There shouldn't be a change in the fee schedule ini- tially ... there will be no increase in costs to community residents as long as they participate in the annual subscription programs; any excess costs will be absorbed by the volunteers.” He explained that Dallas has a membership program in which Dallas Fire & Ambulance Co. does an annual mailing to all residents, asking them to subscribe. Normally in- “surance companies will pay half the cost of ALS and BLS, with the remainder to be paid by the pa- tient, but if the patient has paid his or her membership fee, the other half of the charge for BLS and ALS services is absorbed. If you are not currently a subscriber or on the mailing list for your local might look fire and ambulance company, con- tact them for more information. VanEtten said volunteer ambu- lance companies “need to come up with some kind of plan so that the service that gets the agreement can operate without a loss, or at least break even. We want to im- prove and increase service.” APTS has presented two payment pro- posals: either keep the system as it is now, or have the ambulance companies pay a fixed rate per transport. Whichever is the case, APTS intends to be more efficient billing-wise. “There are some ser- vices who let forms sit around on their kitchen tables and the bills don’t get processed for five or six months,” Fatula said. “When the announcement was made, that was one of the things we stressed — make sure the crew is on top of things, and the billing is done regularly. People have to work to- gether — that’s the key.” Well (continued from'page 1) “United Water is going to ben- efit from this, but how is it going to be beneficial to Dallas School District?” Anthony Barbose wanted to know. Raczko explained that the three wells in Dallas were almost to the maximum they could produce, and a new well would mean that it would no longer be necessary to look to Shavertown for more water. It would also mean amore abundant water supply for the school in the future, and bet- ter water pressure, which is im- portant for fire prevention. Gil- bert Griffiths, Superintendent, said that it was “in the best inter- ests of the school district as well as the community — that's why they're here.” The new well would help supply Dallas as a whole, not just the high school. In other business, Frank Natitus, in his Student Activities report, submitted a resolution to accept the resignation of the high school’s assistant wrestling coach. This would leave the school with- out a wrestling coach at all; only the middle school has one at this point. “We have advertised throughout the Valley since fall, but, there were no takers,” said Superintendent Griffiths. If a new coach is not found, the school may have to curtail its wrestling program. Natitus said there was a possible backup, but did not give a name. It was also mentioned that the website for the School District is www.dallassd.com and it can be freely accessed by anyone inter- ested in learning more about any of the Dallas schools or their ad- - ministrators. the term. 2c ~ Name There 1s a new bank on the horizon. First National Community Bank. A bank that offers some of the highest interest rates on all Certificate of Deposit products, regardless of In addition FNCB offers: w ANEW FIRST IN THE BACK MOUNTAIN ree Sere ere ee ee re RH HE ee ee Se ete Hee el EH ee ee HS A SH So WH Ae 558 eb BH eet A eH eee A HE eA HA er A First National Community Ban Address City State = Zip Join Our Grand Opening Celebration! 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