KC ambulance service to discuss staffing, funding shortage
Karns City Regional Ambulance Service officials plan to discuss the future of the department Tuesday, Oct. 18, and they want the community to come alongside and aid them.
According to Kandi Nassy, a representative of the ambulance service, the monthly meeting will feature discussion about a hearing held in Grove City last Tuesday regarding EMS funding and staffing shortages.
“People ought to be worried,” she said. “EMS is not getting assistance.”
According to previous reports, State Reps. Tim Bonner, R-8th, and Park Wentling, R-17th, met in the Grove City Municipal Building earlier this week to talk over the issues of slow response times, staffing and funding shortages with local EMS leaders.
Nassy said most people don’t realize the lack of state funding for EMS services.
“We’re looking to get more people aware that most EMS services are not funded by fire departments anymore. There’s certain taxes dedicated to (fire departments), but EMS doesn’t see any of that,” she said.
She added that local fire taxes, which are collected with municipal taxes in the form of mills, are also supplemented by a foreign fire tax for departments. That tax is removed from the Volunteer Fire Fighters Relief Act, which requires out-of-state insurance companies that insure homes in a Pennsylvania municipality to grant a percentage of funds to local fire departments and municipal police departments
“They dictate how funds are distributed to fire departments thinking it is shared with EMS, but it is not,” she said. “Foreign fire tax goes goes through a government channel to local government, but that’s just it, everything says ‘fire.’ EMS doesn’t see any of it.”
She added that Karns City’s ambulance service does hold meetings at the Petrolia Volunteer Fire Department, but they pay rent like everyone else.
“That’s one of our expenses,” she said. “People think because we’re there, (they) assume we’re part of the fire department, but we’re not,” she said.
The lack of state funding means applying for grants to keep the ambulance services going, as well as operating a subscription service, Nassy said.
At the meeting, Nassy said the service members will discuss what they heard at the hearing, and ask input from community members about how to fund the future.
“We want people to come to our meeting for ideas about funding, or if they have questions about how the ambulance service operates, if they have interest in being an EMT, since staffing is an issue everywhere now,” she said.
The meeting begins at 6:30 p.m. in the Petrolia Volunteer Fire Department, 200 Argyle St.
