Aug. 16—KINGSTON, N.Y. — The city-operated ambulance service run by the Kingston Fire Department is now averaging about 400 calls per month, according to Chief Chris Rea.
Rea shared an update on the ambulance service to the Common Council's Finance and Audit Committee on Wednesday, Aug. 15, before committee members approved a fund balance transfer request of $556,032 for expenditures relating to outfitting eight additional employees the department has hired since the city took over ambulance services on Jan. 1 from Empress EMS.
City Comptroller John Tuey added that the council's action was a formality as part of an agreement the Common Council already approved earlier this year.
Rea said as per the agreement, the department plans to add a total of 16 new employees to full staff the ambulance service. He said they've now hired 12 people.
Mayor Steve Noble said the city hopes to fund six of the positions for at least three years with a state SAFER grant. He added that the city has applied for the grant and hopes to find out if it was successful by the end of the year.
The ambulance service is consistently handling about 400 calls per month, Rea said.
When asked by Majority Leader Reynolds Scott-Childress if this varies from season to season, Rea said the call volume stays pretty consistent but the nature of the calls may vary depending on the season.
Rea said while his department remains stretched, its members are committed to making the city-run ambulance service work.
"We've made this happen," he added. "We have three ambulances going continuously. When the public needs our help, we'll hold to our promise that we're there in three minutes."
Turning to billing for ambulance service, Tuey said the first few months of billing have gone well so far with the service taking in just over $150,000 since billing began on June 1.
"We're seeing some decent numbers," he said.
He cautioned that the city still has not approved all payer sources, including Medicaid. "We're waiting for our Medicaid application to be approved," he said.
Rea said he's feeling optimistic about 2025. "We should have sufficient paramedics, equipment and manpower," he said.
Rea said he feels 2025 will set the tone of how much revenue billing will bring in versus the expenses of operating the ambulance service.
"In a perfect world, it will pay for itself," he said. "I don't believe so."
Still, Rea believes it will be far cheaper than if the city stuck with Empress. "It won't come close to the contract Empress wanted the city to pay," he said.
Bryant Drew Andrews, D-Ward 7, questioned how the department will deal with a statewide and nationwide EMS shortage.
Rea said he has three potential candidates on the civil service list from SUNY Cobleskill, who will be certified as paramedics next month while the department is also looking at two others on the list set to graduate from Dutchess Community College in December.
"The ones from Dutchess Community College are doing their 'riding time' with us," Rea said. All paramedic trainees have a certain amount of time they have ride along with ambulance crews as they seek their certification, he explained.
Still, Rea admitted things aren't getting any easier when it comes to recruiting EMS personnel and he predicted this will only get harder.
But, he said, one thing his agency has going for his staff, over other EMS providers, is a chance to move into other roles in the department. "For an incoming paramedic, there's a light at the end of the tunnel that they could become a firefighter on an engine," he said. "They do not have to be on the ambulance for the rest of their career."
Originally Published: August 16, 2024 at 5:49 p.m.
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