Dear Editor,
With the truth our dogs haven’t a fight to attend.
It is due time that the wishes, half-truths and politically motivated opinions expressed in articles written by the Iola Register are brought into a light that is much less exciting yet much more newsworthy. In regards to the current situation of the state of Emergency Medical Services in Allen County most articles should be taken with a shaker of salt not the proverbial grain. I look to the article of Jan. 25, 2012 which purveyed the opinions of the County Commission in regards to the citizen committee to study EMS. The article, while a bit interesting, other than the printed opinions, contained very little validity.
In 2008 the City of Iola did began operating an ambulance service. The Kansas Board of EMS did not grant permission for Iola to do so, namely because according to Kansas Statutes the authority to grant permission to entities to operate an ambulance is not a function of the Board of EMS. The Board of EMS does license ambulances and maintain certification credentials for attendants however it does not hold the regulatory authority to grant permissions for entities to operate ambulances. Then Attorney General Steve Six did issue an opinion on the matter when asked, but since Kansas statute does not prevent any entity or person for that matter from starting and operating an ambulance service, nor does it grant exclusivity to any one entity or person for operation of an ambulance service in a specific geographical area it should not be startling at all that his opinion did not recommend against formation of an EMS service by the City of Iola.
It is true that $80,000 is transferred from Allen County to the City of Iola in regards to operation of Emergency Medical Services. The money has been called everything from a stipend to a gift in past articles but the hard truth is that this is money that is collected by Allen County from a mill levy imposed to support Emergency Medical Services. Allen County has the authority to do that according to Kansas statute. The money given back to Iola is simply a portion of the tax money paid by those whom reside inside the City of Iola and receive their ambulance service from the City of Iola. While a stipend or gift does seem a much more fun word to use the $80,000 is nothing more than a tax collected from citizens of the City of Iola, given back to the city of Iola. There is no double tax to run two ambulance services. No hush money being thrown around, no gifts or stipends just collected taxes being spent where they are collected.
The fallacy that one ambulance service is necessary should be addressed. Would one service work? Absolutely. Do two services work just as effectively? Yes. Is more than one service simply unheard of as some elected officials want to believe? Not at all. Look South. Neosho County has three ambulance services. One operated by the hospital in Chanute. One operated by a not-for-profit incorporation in Erie. And a third for-profit company also based in Chanute. Montgomery County has four separate ambulance services at Coffeyville, Independence, Cherryvale, and Caney. Wilson County has two; Fredonia and Neodesha. Multiple services are by no means the exception, it is more of the rule if one cares to look at the facts.
Are there dogs to bring to a fight? Sure are. Many. Basically anybody that cares to purchase an ambulance, equip and staff it has a dog for this fight. Kansas statute does require that the county government provide for an ambulance service but grants absolutely no exclusivity as to whom or what entity runs it, as long as there is one. As with any healthcare decisions no one entity can run a monopoly on healthcare and force citizens to use it. That’s a citizen’s God given right to choose what care they believe is right for their own healthcare. No different than living in Iola and using doctors or the hospital in Chanute or Fort Scott.
While there may be a great number of dogs it seems that there isn’t a fight for them to go to. Isn’t it time to waste our elected officials time and energy on something that might actually do some amount of good for the citizens?
In solidarity,
Mark T. Michael,
Business Agent
International Association of Firefighters Local 64
Kansas City, Kan.
(Editor’s note: Michael is employed by the Iola Fire Department.)
