Volunteer Fire and EMS fundraising

G1G4

Find em Hot, Leave em Wet
Our ambulance rides have been few and far between but I think they do charge. I know for sure if hughesville comes to St. Mary's the county charges.

Charles does, that's how they circumvent their paid crews and mileages or their ambulances.
 

nutz

Well-Known Member
Charles does, that's how they circumvent their paid crews and mileages or their ambulances.

Whoa, what!? The Charles County volunteer system does not impose any fees or charges for their services. If a patient is transported by a career crew or "paid ambulance", then the county sends a bill to the patient. The county is "leasing" ambulances and space from the volunteer companies for the time being.
 
Can we go all the way back to step one? Why do our volunteer fire fighters and EMS personnel have to also be fundraisers? I thought all three counties in our area provided public safety services through county budgets. What is needed that is not funded by our tax dollars, and if we are not getting what is needed to keep us safe, perhaps this should be addressed by each local Board of Commissioners.

I find it sad that charitable dollars are going to local government departments (or what I believe are departments funded by local governments) when those dollars could be going to struggling, worthy charities who are not government funded. It is also sad that these volunteers who are putting their lives on the line for us are also expected to go out and solicit.

What do they need that they are not getting, and why are these needs not being met by tax dollars?
 

SoMDGirl42

Well-Known Member
Can we go all the way back to step one? Why do our volunteer fire fighters and EMS personnel have to also be fundraisers? I thought all three counties in our area provided public safety services through county budgets. What is needed that is not funded by our tax dollars, and if we are not getting what is needed to keep us safe, perhaps this should be addressed by each local Board of Commissioners.

I find it sad that charitable dollars are going to local government departments (or what I believe are departments funded by local governments) when those dollars could be going to struggling, worthy charities who are not government funded. It is also sad that these volunteers who are putting their lives on the line for us are also expected to go out and solicit.

What do they need that they are not getting, and why are these needs not being met by tax dollars?

You must be new to the area. Here is a surprise for you. (STM) The fire tax is just that, a FIRE tax. It gets split between the fire departments. EMS receives nothing from the fire tax. The rescue squads operate strickly on a donation basis. What gets donated operates the squad. Short and sweet story.

Bottom line, donate to your local rescue squad/fire department. They need it.
 
You must be new to the area. Here is a surprise for you. (STM) The fire tax is just that, a FIRE tax. It gets split between the fire departments. EMS receives nothing from the fire tax. The rescue squads operate strickly on a donation basis. What gets donated operates the squad. Short and sweet story.

Bottom line, donate to your local rescue squad/fire department. They need it.

Not exactly, the Fire Departments receive a majority of it (about 5-6 cents per $100 of property values in their response area). EMS stations receive about 1-2 cents per $100 of the property values. Like everything else, costs are going up. So, yes, they do get some tax money, but like everything else, they have to stretch it the best they can. When you factor in the costs of running these organizations, it is very difficult. A new ambulance wil run you in the ballpark of $200k and up. That doesn't even factor in the equipment and gear that is carried on board, that is just the vehicle. And the average lifespan of an Ambulance is around 8-10 years.

Even though they do receive tax money, it often doesn't go far enough, so they still rely on donations.
 

sm8

Active Member
You must be new to the area. Here is a surprise for you. (STM) The fire tax is just that, a FIRE tax. It gets split between the fire departments. EMS receives nothing from the fire tax. The rescue squads operate strickly on a donation basis. What gets donated operates the squad. Short and sweet story.

Bottom line, donate to your local rescue squad/fire department. They need it.

I thought the fire tax was like the rain tax. We get rain the government gets paid, we have fires the government gets paid.
 

officeguy

Well-Known Member
Can we go all the way back to step one? Why do our volunteer fire fighters and EMS personnel have to also be fundraisers? I thought all three counties in our area provided public safety services through county budgets. What is needed that is not funded by our tax dollars, and if we are not getting what is needed to keep us safe, perhaps this should be addressed by each local Board of Commissioners.

I find it sad that charitable dollars are going to local government departments (or what I believe are departments funded by local governments) when those dollars could be going to struggling, worthy charities who are not government funded. It is also sad that these volunteers who are putting their lives on the line for us are also expected to go out and solicit.

What do they need that they are not getting, and why are these needs not being met by tax dollars?


I think the current setup with some tax financing, some community support and some reimbursed rides works pretty well. EMS in a rural area is a loss business. Commercial operators would not be interested to cover anything except Lexington Park/California without significant subsidies. The checks I write to my local fire company are not money that would go to charity otherwise, they are my contribution to a valuable community service. If it was all financed out of the car registration fees, I wouldn't be able to deduct it from my taxes, by making it as a charitable contribution, I can.
I dont think the firemen mind doing some fundraising, most of their activities (poker nights, christmas trees) are actually fun.
 

OldHillcrestGuy

Well-Known Member
Our ambulance rides have been few and far between but I think they do charge. I know for sure if hughesville comes to St. Mary's the county charges.

Only if its the career crew, which includes a paramedic and EMT. Thankfully a agreement was made with St. Marys County a few months back, not to always ask for the ALS unit from Hughesville when it was a BLS call (sick person, a fall, tummy ache etc.). They were abusing the system, it would take a Advanced Life Support Unit (ALS) away from the Hughesville, Benedict, Gallent Green and Dentsville area for a extended period of time. That would make the ALS units from Waldorf and LaPlata have to cover the entire eastern side of Charles County.
Mechcanicsville has vastly improved in the past 6 months or so, especially in daytime calls getting out and responding to calls and not relying on Charles County.
The ALS unit from Hughesville will still respond to St. Marys if its a life threating call (chest pains, trouble breathing, stroke) and the medic unit from St. Marys is not in service or on another call or out of position like in Ridge or Piney Point or some other far away place from Mechcanicsville.
 

sm8

Active Member
Only if its the career crew, which includes a paramedic and EMT. Thankfully a agreement was made with St. Marys County a few months back, not to always ask for the ALS unit from Hughesville when it was a BLS call (sick person, a fall, tummy ache etc.). They were abusing the system, it would take a Advanced Life Support Unit (ALS) away from the Hughesville, Benedict, Gallent Green and Dentsville area for a extended period of time. That would make the ALS units from Waldorf and LaPlata have to cover the entire eastern side of Charles County.
Mechcanicsville has vastly improved in the past 6 months or so, especially in daytime calls getting out and responding to calls and not relying on Charles County.
The ALS unit from Hughesville will still respond to St. Marys if its a life threating call (chest pains, trouble breathing, stroke) and the medic unit from St. Marys is not in service or on another call or out of position like in Ridge or Piney Point or some other far away place from Mechcanicsville.

I am a firm believer that an ambulance is not a taxi cab and all of ours would have been considered life threatening. But I do not mind paying and even if not billed making a donation to cover expenses. It is funny because the people who do not donate money, time or help out in any way are usually the first to complain when it takes an ambulance too much time to get there when they stubbed their toe.
 

nutz

Well-Known Member
But I do not mind paying and even if not billed making a donation to cover expenses. It is funny because the people who do not donate money, time or help out in any way are usually the first to complain when it takes an ambulance too much time to get there when they stubbed their toe.

The current charge is in the $1100.00 neighborhood. :popcorn:
 

sm8

Active Member
The current charge is in the $1100.00 neighborhood. :popcorn:

Yeah but would you rather die. Letting the price be known would be a good deterrent for those too lazy to drive and it would free up service to those in need.
 

OldHillcrestGuy

Well-Known Member
The current charge is in the $1100.00 neighborhood. :popcorn:

Charles career charges around the $370-600 range depending how much they do while in the ambo.
If you see those pretty Med-Star choppers, they charge in the area of $9,000, where MSP and and US Park are free.
 

RPMDAD

Well-Known Member
I guess i can say luckily when i was medevaced out of Calvert it was an MSP chopper.
 

officeguy

Well-Known Member
If you see those pretty Med-Star choppers, they charge in the area of $9,000, where MSP and and US Park are free.

MSP is not free, it is paid for with your car registration. They worked on getting the paperwork together to be able to charge out of state residents but dont fulfill some of the FAA requirements to do so.
 

officeguy

Well-Known Member
Yeah but would you rather die. Letting the price be known would be a good deterrent for those too lazy to drive and it would free up service to those in need.

The ones who use it as a taxi are for the most part deadbeats and dont care how much it costs.
 

randomperson

New Member
The volunteer EMS system in this county is no longer adequate. EMS stations are failing to respond on a daily basis. Units from other stations in the county and Charles County then have to come cover the call, which leaves their area uncovered. This sometimes makes response times over 30 minutes. Complaining about a unit driving around the county is silly. I’m surprised that they actually have a crew. You complain about them asking for donations now? Wait until they put in place a much needed career system. Charles County realized that their EMS system was broken and put in place a career system and their citizens will atleast get a paramedic ambulance when they need one. St. Mary’s county barely has one Medic unit in service, and that’s in a chase vehicle. Even if the medic unit responds, they still have to wait for an ambulance. The volunteers work hard to help their neighbors, but the call volume and dwindling new recruit numbers is making it impossible to provide acceptable service.
 

OldHillcrestGuy

Well-Known Member
The volunteer EMS system in this county is no longer adequate. EMS stations are failing to respond on a daily basis. Units from other stations in the county and Charles County then have to come cover the call, which leaves their area uncovered. This sometimes makes response times over 30 minutes. Complaining about a unit driving around the county is silly. I’m surprised that they actually have a crew. You complain about them asking for donations now? Wait until they put in place a much needed career system. Charles County realized that their EMS system was broken and put in place a career system and their citizens will atleast get a paramedic ambulance when they need one. St. Mary’s county barely has one Medic unit in service, and that’s in a chase vehicle. Even if the medic unit responds, they still have to wait for an ambulance. The volunteers work hard to help their neighbors, but the call volume and dwindling new recruit numbers is making it impossible to provide acceptable service.

Even sometimes Calvert County, twice in a month to calls in Golden Beach earlier this summer.
 
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