Dear editor,
Shortly after I moved to Iola Kansas in 2011 the City of Iola began discussions with the Allen County commission regarding Emergency Medical Services. At that point in time Allen County ran a service that covered the county and the City operated a service just for the city area. The discussions started in 2012 and continued through 2013. A contract was signed in 2014 between Allen County and the City of Iola giving the City of Iola responsibility for operating the EMS service for the entire county with operating locations in Moran, Humboldt and Iola.
We are now engaged in another round of discussions to determine how best to operate the EMS service within the parameters set by the county. The county sent out an RFP (Request for Proposal) to get some options. They will perhaps get a variety of proposals from private entities and one from the City of Iola.
The county commission decided to solicit RFPs rather than RFQ (Request for Quote) so they would be able to look at various proposals and select what they like among various options. I think this was a wise decision to allow them to select a level of service based on cost. There needs to be an element of reality on how much we are willing to pay for services that might be nice, needs versus wants.
The City of Iola operates a paid full-time fire service. The current employees are trained in fire operations and also EMS services. Each firefighter also has Emergency Medical Technician (EMT) or paramedic qualification.
According to figures from April 2021, current authorized staffing with the City for Fire & EMS is 28 (27 on shift + 1 Chief). Current staffing level is 26 and actively working to fill two vacancies. City FY2021 budget is $2,845,700 for combined Fire & EMS service. $1,007,000 comes from EMS, the rest comes from the Iola tax base.
If Iola were to run a fire only crew, staffing levels would likely require a minimum of 16 personnel, but likely higher to cover for vacations, sick leave and the desire to have the desired number of firefighters to meet current standards without a lot of overtime.
If the City of Iola did not provide EMS service, they would still have a commitment to provide a full-time paid fire service. This level of service was established many years ago and is not likely to change. Once a certain level of service is established it is very difficult to drop to a lower level of service.
In recent years the county has improved the service immensely by building new facilities in Moran and Humboldt as well as agreeing to purchase new ambulances on a regular basis.
My hope is that county and city officials will continue to be willing and able to work cooperatively together to operate a high quality EMS service to the entire county in the most efficient manner possible.
Carl Slaugh,
A member of the Iola Council
