Call it a sign of the times. As of Jan. 1, a ride in a Perinton ambulance will cost you. The Perinton Volunteer Ambulance Corps was among the last local providers not to bill for its services, but no more. Along with more than a dozen other volunteer agencies in Monroe County, the Perinton agency now bills a patient’s health care provider after treatment.
Spurred by the increasing requirements to be a certified responder and a decline in the number of volunteers over the last decade, the agency was forced to bring its free rides to an end.
If a person can’t afford treatment or an ambulance ride, however, they won’t be turned away, assured Mike Dollard, president of Perinton Volunteer Ambulance Corps. The agency has always found a way to cover the costs of that treatment, and that won’t change.
“There’s been a big downturn in the capacity to volunteer because people are working and don’t have as much time as they used to,” said Tim Czapranski, Monroe County’s administrator of emergency medical services.
Volunteer ambulance corps are struggling to find volunteers to work during regular business hours. Jeff Hammond of the state Department of Health says there has been a shift in the way volunteers work, as more gravitate toward evening and weekend shifts.
Michael Mastrianni, president of the New York State Volunteer Ambulance and Rescue Association, attributes the decline to the struggling economy.
“Years ago, families could survive on one income. Now both parents are working, and high schoolers are looking for part-time jobs in the summer,” said Mastrianni, noting the drop in volunteerism has been dramatic over the last decade. “It’s not just in EMS — it’s all across the board,” he said.
Local impact
Perinton has a staff of 90 volunteers, including ambulance dispatchers and 65 Emergency Medical Technicians and paramedics at the Turk Hill Road station, where three ambulance units, a two-person crew and one dispatcher are available at all times. The non-profit organization is funded by private donations and a contract with the Town of Perinton. In 2010, taxpayers paid 9 cents per $1,000 of assessed value special district charge each year. That will drop to 8 cents in 2011, given the billing change.
Now that the ambulance corps is taking in revenue, volunteers will have the option of receiving a per-hour salary, a per-call salary or continuing to work for free.
Call it a sign of the times. As of Jan. 1, a ride in a Perinton ambulance will cost you. The Perinton Volunteer Ambulance Corps was among the last local providers not to bill for its services, but no more. Along with more than a dozen other volunteer agencies in Monroe County, the Perinton agency now bills a patient’s health care provider after treatment.
Spurred by the increasing requirements to be a certified responder and a decline in the number of volunteers over the last decade, the agency was forced to bring its free rides to an end.
If a person can’t afford treatment or an ambulance ride, however, they won’t be turned away, assured Mike Dollard, president of Perinton Volunteer Ambulance Corps. The agency has always found a way to cover the costs of that treatment, and that won’t change.
“There’s been a big downturn in the capacity to volunteer because people are working and don’t have as much time as they used to,” said Tim Czapranski, Monroe County’s administrator of emergency medical services.
Volunteer ambulance corps are struggling to find volunteers to work during regular business hours. Jeff Hammond of the state Department of Health says there has been a shift in the way volunteers work, as more gravitate toward evening and weekend shifts.
Michael Mastrianni, president of the New York State Volunteer Ambulance and Rescue Association, attributes the decline to the struggling economy.
“Years ago, families could survive on one income. Now both parents are working, and high schoolers are looking for part-time jobs in the summer,” said Mastrianni, noting the drop in volunteerism has been dramatic over the last decade. “It’s not just in EMS — it’s all across the board,” he said.
Local impact
Perinton has a staff of 90 volunteers, including ambulance dispatchers and 65 Emergency Medical Technicians and paramedics at the Turk Hill Road station, where three ambulance units, a two-person crew and one dispatcher are available at all times. The non-profit organization is funded by private donations and a contract with the Town of Perinton. In 2010, taxpayers paid 9 cents per $1,000 of assessed value special district charge each year. That will drop to 8 cents in 2011, given the billing change.
Now that the ambulance corps is taking in revenue, volunteers will have the option of receiving a per-hour salary, a per-call salary or continuing to work for free.
The East Rochester Volunteer Ambulance Corps has a staff of 25 volunteers. That group started billing six years ago, at the request of the village board. Emergency responders there also have the option of receiving a salary, as in Perinton. Captain Terry Flanigan says the payment option serves as an incentive for EMS staff, and also boosts volunteerism by reducing the strain on individual volunteers, allowing them to take shorter shifts each month.
Changing times, changing pressures
An ambulance ride can cost anywhere between $300 and $2,000, depending on a patient’s needs. As the economic squeeze has put more pressure on volunteer ambulance organizations across the state, billing for service has grown more widely accepted.
“It was difficult for many to start billing, because they felt it went against the very nature of being a volunteer organization,” said Mastrianni. “Now it’s become a matter of need.”
That need is apparent nationwide. A study by the Government Accountability Office in 2007 showed that Medicare payments are approximately 6 percent lower than the cost of providing transportation for an ambulance patient. In rural areas, approximately 17 percent of the cost isn’t covered by Medicare, the study reported.
For many area agencies, including those in Brighton, Greece and Pittsford, charging for immediate treatment and rides to the hospital is nothing new. They’ve been billing patrons for years. But just because an agency bills, that doesn’t mean that paramedics are paid, noted Mike Cumbie of the Hamlin Volunteer Ambulance Corps.
In Hamlin, a team of 20 volunteers works around the clock to ensure all 911 calls are answered. The agency is still completely run by volunteers. The money generated by billing, however, pays for workers compensation (including volunteers), medical supplies, ambulance vehicles and building maintenance.
“The bill is just to keep the doors open,” Cumbie said.
Not all agencies have that option. Ambulances affiliated with volunteer fire departments, such as Sea Breeze and Point Pleasant, are not permitted by the state to bill for their services, because they receive all their funding from tax dollars. Those tax dollars fund the paid positions in those departments.
Commercial agencies are also part of the picture: Rural/Metro and Monroe Ambulance — the two largest commercial agencies in the Rochester area — are fully staffed by paid EMS workers, who respond to 911 calls and provide mutual aid to private organizations that contract with them.
Increased requirements
The ever-changing requirements to be a certified medical responder are another factor in declining volunteerism, said Dollard of Perinton.
LaShay Harris is a registered paramedic who started working as a volunteer at the Irondequoit Volunteer Ambulance Corps. She said state requirements place pressure on EMTs and paramedics, who must be re-certified every three years.
“Requirements for paramedics have increased, so it’s basically a full-time job,” said Harris, who now works at the Irondequoit agency and at Rural/Metro Medical Services in Rochester.
Re-certification can be done through a one-semester class followed by a written exam or continued education. This program, introduced in 2001, requires certified EMS workers to show proof of at least 72 hours of refresher training, CPR and ACLS certification, verification of skill maintenance, and additional proof of continued education.
Although specific requirements vary for EMTs and paramedics, many EMTs don’t renew their certifications within their first five years of working, said Dollard. That, and the difficult nature of the work itself, are reasons some don’t continue to volunteer.
Awareness is key
Others say the problem may be a lack of awareness among people who don’t know how to help, says Cumbie, director of membership at the Hamlin Volunteer Ambulance Corps. While the economy and extensive requirements are valid causes for decreasing interest, the real problem is lack of awareness among community members who don’t know how to get involved, he said.
“You don’t have to be an EMT to volunteer,” said Cumbie.
At Hamlin, for example, anyone can apply to receive training to become an ambulance driver and have the cost of their EMT class covered by the state Department of Health.
Undoubtedly, the average workday for anyone working as an EMS responder is strenuous. While many struggle with physical and emotional fatigue, Cumbie said the payoff for this line of work is always rewarding.
“It requires someone who can stay calm and focused in the midst of a problem and address it,” said Cumbie. “There is nothing like helping someone who needs you at the worst moment in their life.”
