July 27, 2023 |
Photo – SCWEMS Ambulance Barn – Bigfoot99 file photo
SCWEMS is updating its municipality agreements after one community in Carbon County is looking to exit the compact.
The South-Central Wyoming Emergency Medical Service provides ambulance coverage across the county. Last month, the SCWEMS Joint Powers Board held a meeting to update the agreement the ambulance service has between every Carbon County municipality. SCWEMS Director Stayton Mosbey said the meeting focused on making sure that every town had the most up-to-date copy of the agreement.
Mosbey said the Joint Powers Board members made some minor clerical changes as well, such as updating the organization’s address. He also said the board opted to hire another volunteer representative for the southern part of the county. Mosbey said SCWEMS only has a single volunteer representative position held by Kyle Warren.
A SCWEMS volunteer representative acts as a sort of manager for the other medical volunteers, supervising the quality of pre-hospital care.
To pay for ambulance service, each town in Carbon County has signed an agreement with the SCWEMS Joint Powers Board to provide funding based on population. Beginning this month, SCWEMS raised the per person cost to municipalities from $30 to $34. Cash strapped Hanna has been looking for ways to avoid paying SCWEMS.
During the July 11th Hanna town council meeting, Town Attorney Patrick Bradey said the agreement between the town and SCWEMS doesn’t require Hanna to pay for ambulance coverage. Attorney Bradey said the SCWEMS Joint Powers Board was going to change that.
Attorney Bradey told the Hanna town council to brace for a legal battle should they choose not to allocate the $23,222 required to pay for SCWEMS coverage.
Mosbey said the Joint Powers Board is working to amend the agreement to address town contributions. He said as it is written, the agreement doesn’t allow SCWEMS to stop providing ambulance service if a town refuses to pay. The SCWEMS director said the amended agreement would allow municipalities to oust towns that choose not to contribute financially.
Mosbey said Wyoming towns aren’t required to provide any type of medical care to residents. He said fire and police are legally mandated, but not EMS. Mosbey said SCWEMS does it’s best to show it is a valuable service for the entire county. Failing that, Mosbey said, the municipalities can collectively vote to disband SCWEMS.
Mosbey said every aspect of the cost of medical transportation has gone up in recent years. He said the $4 a person price hike was needed to keep pace with the rising cost of fuel, medicine, and equipment. The SCWEMS director said every ambulance service is feeling the effects of inflation.
Every town in Carbon County will need to sign off on the amended SCWEMS agreement before the changes can go into effect.
