The Washington County Board of Supervisors took time recently to address public concerns voiced to them regarding the Washington County Ambulance D3 Truck and Basic Life Support Service (BLS). The county entity was discussed and incorporated into operation at the November 16th, 2021 meeting of the Supervisors with a plan proposed to add a pair of full time employees to Ambulance Service staff and use one of the third or fourth crew ambulance trucks to handle transports. The proposal described the BLS service as used to transport patients to hospitals without requiring a paramedic onboard, with the idea that it would average roughly 20 calls per week, bring in revenue and put another truck on the street to help with call volume.

Fast-forwarding ahead to November 2022, meetings on the eighth and 15th have included conversations about the program and its roughly first nine months of operation. Through September 23rd, it has been staffed 201 days, serving on 421 transports and bringing in an estimated $130,898 profit after $120,707 in expenses. Elaborating on the comments they received from the public, the Supervisors discussed with interim Washington County Ambulance Director Pat Curl, aspects of the program including revenue, any possible staff shortage or readiness issues, distance of transfers, in particular, details regarding a July 19th transfer of a patient to Omaha, Nebraska, possible competition with the private sector and advantages for staff. No action items or decisions have been discussed regarding the program’s future but board members showed interest in continual review.