Iola City Council members emerged without comment Thursday, following a nearly hour-long private discussion about the city’s ambulance contract with Allen County.
Council members gathered for a special session for EMS negotiations with Allen County, after county commissioners put together a proposal that would pay the city $1 million a year for the service.
Since assuming control of the countywide service in January, the city has projected a $377,000 budget shortfall by the end of the year.
After a series of recent negotiating sessions between city and county intermediaries, the county directed Counselor Alan Weber to draft a contract proposal that would pay the city $1 million for the service annually, an increase of the $750,000 the sides already agreed to.
City Council members at one point this summer voted to send a six-month notice to the county that it was terminating the contract, a notice that was effectively rescinded when they later voted to refuse to give Mayor Joel Wicoff permission to sign it.
While much of Thursday’s session was closed to the public, City Administrator Carl Slaugh provided background information on the city’s call-back policy and how it affects overtime pay.
Through Aug. 31, the city has paid $113,000 in unscheduled overtime for its ambulance crews, Slaugh said.
“That’s one area we can potentially reduce some, depending on our call-back policies.”
The city summons two ambulance personnel to the fire station each time an ambulance is called and a patient is transported, Slaugh explained.
The reason being is the fire station must have at least four personnel on duty in case of a fire call, through the “two-in, two-out” standards set by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA).
The policy mandates an “immediately dangerous to life or health” environment — a burning house, for example — must have at least four firefighters on scene.
Employees on standby are paid for two hours of overtime, even if they are on duty for a fraction of the time.
As an aside, if the ambulance crews on standby are called back a second time in that two-hour period, they do not receive extra compensation, unless their service extends to a third houIola City Council members emerged without comment Thursday, following a nearly hour-long private discussion about the city’s ambulance contract with Allen County.
Council members gathered for a special session for EMS negotiations with Allen County, after county commissioners put together a proposal that would pay the city $1 million a year for the service.
Since assuming control of the countywide service in January, the city has projected a $377,000 budget shortfall by the end of the year.
After a series of recent negotiating sessions between city and county intermediaries, the county directed Counselor Alan Weber to draft a contract proposal that would pay the city $1 million for the service annually, an increase of the $750,000 the sides already agreed to.
City Council members at one point this summer voted to send a six-month notice to the county that it was terminating the contract, a notice that was effectively rescinded when they later voted to refuse to give Mayor Joel Wicoff permission to sign it.
While much of Thursday’s session was closed to the public, City Administrator Carl Slaugh provided background information on the city’s call-back policy and how it affects overtime pay.
Through Aug. 31, the city has paid $113,000 in unscheduled overtime for its ambulance crews, Slaugh said.
“That’s one area we can potentially reduce some, depending on our call-back policies.”
The city summons two ambulance personnel to the fire station each time an ambulance is called and a patient is transported, Slaugh explained.
The reason being is the fire station must have at least four personnel on duty in case of a fire call, through the “two-in, two-out” standards set by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA).
The policy mandates an “immediately dangerous to life or health” environment — a burning house, for example — must have at least four firefighters on scene.
Employees on standby are paid for two hours of overtime, even if they are on duty for a fraction of the time.
As an aside, if the ambulance crews on standby are called back a second time in that two-hour period, they do not receive extra compensation, unless their service extends to a third hour and beyond.
The two-hour policy is in effect for all city employees on standby — not just EMS personnel — Slaugh noted.
Any changes in city policy for ambulance crews on standby would need to be adapted elsewhere in the city, Councilwoman Nancy Ford said.
The city does not call in employees for such things as standby for helicopter transfers from Allen County Regional Hospital, gas meter strikes or non-emergency calls, such as smoke odors. The city also does not call in crews if an ambulance is dispatched to a scene but the patient refuses treatment.
Iola Fire Chief Tim Thyer noted he filled in as one of the standby crew if an ambulance was dispatched during business hours.
“We only call in one guy then,” he said.
COUNCIL members discussed one potential means to reduce overtime, but were unsure how it would affect the EMS contract.
While an ambulance is stationed 24 hours a day in Moran, it responds to only 6 percent of calls in the county.
Slaugh said it might be possible to send the ambulance from Moran to Iola if an Iola crew was used to transport a patient.
As an aside, the county did something similar when it operated the countywide service. Then, the Moran crew was sent to a roadside stopping point along U.S. 54 in LaHarpe.
Thyer said Iola would almost certainly send the crew all the way to Iola if such a backup plan from Moran was utilized.r and beyond.
The two-hour policy is in effect for all city employees on standby — not just EMS personnel — Slaugh noted.
Any changes in city policy for ambulance crews on standby would need to be adapted elsewhere in the city, Councilwoman Nancy Ford said.
The city does not call in employees for such things as standby for helicopter transfers from Allen County Regional Hospital, gas meter strikes or non-emergency calls, such as smoke odors. The city also does not call in crews if an ambulance is dispatched to a scene but the patient refuses treatment.
Iola Fire Chief Tim Thyer noted he filled in as one of the standby crew if an ambulance was dispatched during business hours.
“We only call in one guy then,” he said.
COUNCIL members discussed one potential means to reduce overtime, but were unsure how it would affect the EMS contract.
While an ambulance is stationed 24 hours a day in Moran, it responds to only 6 percent of calls in the county.
Slaugh said it might be possible to send the ambulance from Moran to Iola if an Iola crew was used to transport a patient.
As an aside, the county did something similar when it operated the countywide service. Then, the Moran crew was sent to a roadside stopping point along U.S. 54 in LaHarpe.
Thyer said Iola would almost certainly send the crew all the way to Iola if such a backup plan from Moran was utilized.
