Wayne County became visibly clear of the crisis they were facing back in February of this year. Two deaths within 26 days happened due to the shortage of ambulances and the time it took to reach the people calling 911 especially in the rural communities. If you have an emergency and you dial 911, you’d expect to hear and see an ambulance at your location within minutes.
In February, on Valentine’s Day, a Wayne County teenager died after waiting for CPR and other emergency care because his local ambulance service didn’t have a crew to respond. A little more than two weeks later, a 911 dispatcher said an ambulance wasn’t available to help a 41-year-old mother in Mingo County who was having chest pains. She died as her mother drove her to the nearest hospital. Her teenage daughter and her husband — a local assistant fire chief — had attempted CPR.
“In the state’s rural counties there is an emergency medical shortage due to tight county budgets, a worker shortage and more”. Commented by Wayne Williamson a long time Fireman. He said, “People are scared. People are worried that if they all call 911, they’re not going to get that help, there are more than just those two instances that concern us here.” The wait time for an ambulance can be 50 minutes or longer.
In 2023, a bill that would have provided permanent funding to EMS agencies didn’t make it to the governor’s desk. EMS workers unsuccessfully tried again this year, visiting the State Capitol in January. One ambulance can cost about $950,000 to operate annually.
Governor Justice did, however, recently sign a bill creating a permanent funding source for volunteer fire departments. The governor’s original budget included $20 million to be split between volunteer fire departments and EMS for equipment and training, but in a last-minute decision was taken out.
The county has had inadequate EMS and relied on neighboring Cabell County for help since at least 2018. They’ve considered using opioid settlement money to pay for it; that money would be a temporary solution.
EMS workers can often earn $2-3 more per hour in neighboring states.
Recently the governor signed a bill that will allow EMT’s with three years of service to receive state assistance to become a paramedic. Funding for the program would come from the EMS Equipment and Training Fund, if the budget is approved.
Wayne County EMS Personal
A temporary solution to Wayne County’s ongoing problems with emergency response times is now up and running. A county-contracted ambulance service called Jan-Care hit the roads in July, providing 24/7 service to residents. The cost is over $30,000 to contract Jan-Care each month. The funding comes from the county’s general fund and opioid settlement money.
Commissioners announced last week It involves a $12,500 per month contract to manage a county-wide ambulance system for the county called HealthNet ambulances.
Commissioners plan to sign the HealthNet contract on Oct. 21. They hope to have the county-wide service running by next summer. Until then, the county will continue to pay Jan-Care, a private service for around-the-clock ambulances as a short-term solution.
Until money from the Public Service Levy kicks in next summer, the commissioner says the county is using a mix of opioid settlement dollars and COVID relief money to pay for the ambulances and services provided by Jan-Care and HealthNet.
HealthNet Ambulance Services
