Help for EMS providers can’t be delayed, needs a solution
“911 … What’s your emergency?”
The EMS providers that cover our county are still facing a funding crisis … Is anyone coming to help?
The lack of funding for EMS providers is a known issue. The Butler Eagle has been reporting on the issue for years now — so have news outlets across the state.
In Butler County, we’ve watched as EMS providers beg their local municipalities for just enough to get by, to stay afloat another year while the local gas stations pay their employees more.
Many municipalities have obliged, helping Butler County EMS providers to stay in business while others in the region have closed.
And now, others are considering this notion, too, as Butler Ambulance Service and the Saxonburg Volunteer Fire Company’s ambulance division have been approaching the municipalities that they serve.
Further, the county is involved, too. Commissioners approved funding an EMS Academy that wrapped up in 2024 and have more recently taken steps to fund a paramedic program to address the shortages in the field.
But it’s not enough. This is a big issue that needs a big solution.
Jesse Haas, a paramedic with the Butler Ambulance Service, said at a Tuesday, Aug. 12, that ambulance services make money by transporting patients to care centers and don’t make money when they respond to falls or a diabetic’s low blood sugar.
He said when a patient, for example, was transported to UPMC McCandless, Butler Ambulance Service billed the patient $1,285, but Haas said it won’t see all of that money.
“Medicare reimbursed $600, and we’re working on tracking down $150 from the patient,” Haas said.
How many emergency medical service providers have to close across the state before something is done to resolve the lack of funding going to those who provide care for those experiencing the worst days of their life?
How many responses need to be delayed for heart attacks, strokes and injured children? How many lives need to be lost before lawmakers take up this problem and work together to find a funding solution?
No one wants to see their family member risk a delayed response or worse if experiencing a medical crisis.
The alarm has been sounded; the emergency call placed; and the response could be too late if help doesn’t get headed faster toward the crisis EMS providers are facing.
— TL
