DeKalb EMS has made a request to the DeKalb Budget Committee to increase its staff by four additional members. Officials say the move would make it possible to staff three Advanced Life Support crews (24 hours a day, 7 days a week), including two crews in Smithville and one at the new Liberty Fire Hall.
EMS Director Hoyte Hale made the request during a county budget committee meeting on April 16, pointing out the move would provide a full-time staff in Liberty 24/7. Currently, the county has three staffed ambulances, but only two operate 24 hours per day every day (ALS) while the other (day truck) is staffed for 12 hours per day every day (Basic Life Support). ALS ambulance crews consist of EMTs and a paramedic. EMS currently has 20 employees.
If approved, the EMS budget for medical personnel would increase from $775,028 this year to $911,787 next year (fiscal year 2024-25).
“The way we have it split up right now, we have a paramedic truck on top (Smithville) and a paramedic truck in Liberty. If that paramedic truck here in town goes outside the city limits the one in Liberty comes back to town (Smithville). We have the BLS crew, but their call volume has increased greatly because they have been catching 911 calls during that transition of us coming up the hill,” explained Assistant EMS Director Trent Phipps.
“Anything (ambulance) with a paramedic on it is an ALS truck. When we have two EMTs on it, that’s considered a BLS truck. Their (EMTs) abilities are slightly limited to that of a paramedic. They can’t do as much stuff. If that BLS truck with two EMTs responds to a call, the Liberty truck almost always has to come to them wherever they are in the county and assist them with that depending upon the type of the call,” said Phipps.
“The state requires in my yearly audit that we have an Advanced Emergency Medical Technician (AEMT) with a paramedic on 95% of our calls,” added EMS Director Hale.
“There are no ambulances at the Liberty Station after 8 p.m.,” explained County Mayor Matt Adcock. “The BLS (Basic Life Support) day truck hours are 8 a.m. until 8 p.m. After the day truck shift has concluded the 12-hour shift, the ALS (Advanced Life Support) truck at the Liberty Station returns to the Smithville Station (station 1),” said Adcock.
“Director Hale will also be asking for a capital project allocation for sleeping quarters to be added to the Liberty Station to house the new requested third ALS unit. This would allow the third requested ALS unit to remain at the Liberty Station 24/7 providing uninterrupted coverage of the western and northern portions of the county. This will have a significant impact on the towns of Dowelltown, Liberty, and Alexandria,” added County Mayor Adcock.
The issue over the County Medical Examiner also arose, with Director Hale and Assistant Director Phipps possibly serving in the position. County Mayor Adcock has requested them to share the responsibilities of Medical Examiner Investigator when there is an ambulance call involving a death. They would be working under the physician who serves as the actual medical examiner. Plans are to also train the EMTs and paramedics on staff to fill in for Hale and Phipps if they are unavailable. Another $5,000 would be added to Hale’s salary for these extra duties putting his yearly salary at just over $64,000 barring any other pay hike. Phipps would also be granted an increase in pay or stipend for his services in that role. Director Hale has further requested an additional $2,000 in pay as EMS director.
During his budget presentation Tuesday night, Director Hale further asked that the line item for part time pay be increased from $135,000 this year to $150,000 next year and that the allocation for overtime pay be adjusted to $250,000, up from $200,000. A part time secretary would get a three dollar per hour increase in pay going from $12 to $15 under Director Hale’s request.
With at least two EMS employees planning to attend paramedic school, Director Hale has asked that the budget for In-service training be upped from $18,000 to $40,000.
Meanwhile, Hale wants the allocation for vehicle maintenance and repair to be increased by $10,000 from $65,000 to $75,000 and that the budget for maintenance and repair to the EMS building be adjusted by $3,500 to $8,500. Plans are to replace garage door motors, add security cameras and keyed door pad locks, and to do some painting.
