The status of funding for state EMS services has made its way back into the limelight recently.
This week Governor Terry Branstad spoke publicly to defend his reasoning behind vetoing legislation that would have allowed for a statewide study on how to improve Emergency Medical Service operations in Iowa.
Stuart Rescue Director of Operations Jeff Howard says there are issues with the EMS system that need answering, but the system’s biggest flaw is based on the fact EMS is not an “essential service” like the fire or police departments.
“Not being considered an essential service, we don’t have the power to go out there and get some funding that we need. A lot of times we have unfunded mandates, which basically means there is a law and you gotta figure out a way to pay for it. I don’t know know if I’ll see it in my career, but I’d really love to see Emergency Medical Services be an ‘essential service’. If we were an essential service, we could get more funding. Right now, it’s just hard to do.”
Howard says the Iowa Emergency Medical Services Agency wanted to start a taskforce and a committee lined up to find out what it would take to become an essential service, but then Branstad vetoed the study.
Howard doesn’t think the Governor is seeing the big picture.
“He stated that there may be a few isolated problems within the state’s EMS system and literally thousands of volunteers of very dedicated volunteers are giving their time and talent to help the communities, which there are. That’s not the issue–it’s the funding, we need some money out here. Governor Branstad doesn’t want to see people (local volunteers) hurt obviously, but I don’t think he’s seeing the whole picture here. So, like I said I wish he wouldn’t have vetoed it and pursued with this task force.”
Howard says funding is becoming a pressing question for his unit in Stuart. With volunteer hours decreasing and the department experiencing higher and higher call volume, providing top level service for those who need the help is becoming more difficult.
Howard says he simply needs more funding to meet those current call demands.