Forming an EMS district

South Pend Oreille Fire and Rescue opposed

NEWPORT — Commissioners of the South Pend Oreille Fire and Rescue district do not see a need to form a county-wide Emergency Medical Services district.

According to SPOFR Fire Chief Shane Stocking, they see it as adding an unnecessary level of government to an EMS system that is working. Furthermore, he says fire districts, not county commissioners, should be in charge of EMS services.

“We don’t feel a need to give up local control to the county commissioners,” Stocking says.

Stocking says he and SPOFR commissioners will attend the next Newport City Council meeting, Monday, May 19, to answer any questions.

Pend Oreille County commissioners have scheduled public hearings on forming a countywide EMS district for June 24 in Metaline and July 1 in Newport. At least one public hearing is required before county commissioners vote on forming the district. County commissioners can vote to form an EMS district but before any taxes are levied for the district, voters must approve.

If the county does form a county-wide EMS district, the towns of Ione, Metaline, Metaline Falls, Cusick and the city of Newport would have to opt in. If they didn’t, they wouldn’t be eligible to receive services from the district.

Proponents say that an EMS district would be a way to coordinate EMS services, as well as a vehicle to receive funding. Pend Oreille County is one of three counties in the state that do not have an EMS district.

SPOFR maintains that the necessity of an EMS district has not been proven.

“For example, earlier on we were all told that we could not get ‘grants’ or ‘state funding’ without a district, and this was proven false,” Stocking said in a written statement to The Miner. “It’s funny that those were continually pushed as reasons, but we aren’t talking about how it is not true.”

Stocking says the county has enough ambulance service, including advanced life support ambulances. SPOFR has one of the two state-issued ALS licenses, and Fire District 2 has the other.

“There routinely is an abundance of ambulances headed to one call, requiring operational decisions in cancelling units,” Stocking says.

SPOFR is different from the other fire districts, Stocking says. He says they don’t have a funding issue.

“We are funded and budgeted differently and operate a balanced budget based on actuals,” he says. “We do not rely on transport revenue or mobilizations and are proud to be balanced positioned for the future, regardless of what happens with mobilizations or revenue changes.”

Stocking says north and south county are also very different.

“That is why local control is so important, SPOFR’s constituents’ needs should be dictated at the SPOFR level, not a county level,” he says. SPOFR has two thirds of the county’s population, with higher density and a larger percentage of fire-related calls. That justifies a completely different service delivery model than other fire districts.

If the county does form an EMS district it would likely include the entire county, along with the cities and town that opt in. Stocking makes the case that SPOFR constituents shouldn’t be forced into an EMS district.

“SPOFR does not see adding another layer of government as a need or desire from our constituents,” Stocking says. “We do not believe that the county commissioners need to have oversight over EMS service, this is why we have fire commissioners and fire chiefs.

“SPOFR definitely does not think ‘forcing’ SPOFR to be part of a district is good government, or a good look for the county commissioners,” he says.

SPOFR is alone among fire districts in thinking that forming an EMS district is not a good idea.

Officials from Fire District 2, Fire District 4 and Fire District 5 have all expressed the need for a county-wide EMS district.