No one in the right position is actually denying that. What must be ironed out is, what is fair. Here's what you haven't heard yet, especially from your local media.
Even before there was a County Executive position, your County Council had been given the task of just how to divide the funding between ALL of the Fire Departments in Wicomico County and that includes Salisbury.
Because it was an upcoming election year, the Council decided that they would simply divide the money up evenly between ALL of the Fire Departments. Now think about that for a second. Do YOU believe Allen goes out on as many calls as the City of Salisbury? Clearly the answer is NO.
Now, when you actually do a study based on per capita throughout the state, Wicomico County has far more equipment then any other County in the state. Is it necessary, absolutely not. Yeah, I know, a LOT of Firefighters will come back here on the defense and scream, that's not true. Well, it is true. I'm not trying to KNOCK ANY Fire Department. The facts are the facts, you have way too much equipment.
Heck, we've even had a candidate chime in with a letter to the editor giving his view of how to fix the problem at hand. You have to KNOW all of the circumstances to actually come up with a solution.
So, is Ireton wrong, NO. Is Culver wrong, NO. The problem at hand is the fact that Ireton has acted like a complete jackass and gave an ultimatum and anyone who has any experience in business knows, you don't give ultimatums, period. You first come to the table with an invite and NOT through the press. You negotiate and put your facts on the table and you debate the matter until there's a resolution.
Wicomico County should do like Sussex County and DIVIDE EMS/Ambulance services from the Fire Department, for starters. They can have five different locations for each ambulance. This will certainly end any more form of retaliation from the City and what's more important is that ALL County residents will be covered at all times.
As for the Volunteer Departments throughout the County, unfortunately and more than likely you are going to experience a decrease in funding because RIGHT IS RIGHT. The City deserves more of that divided funding because they do far more calls.
HOWEVER, the FACT that Ireton is placing this July 1 demand on the County Executive, know for a fact that SHOULD Executive Culver be FORCED to make a financial change, it is NOT Culver's fault, it's on Ireton. Again, it's very important to understand, Ireton is not actually wrong when it comes to that funding being unfairly divided.
No matter what, there's going to be hardship any way you look at it. However, it's simply unfortunate that it has now fallen under a REPUBLICAN Leader and should have fallen under Pollitt instead. That is why Ireton is making this thing such a big show and that is why your local LIBERAL media is following suit and giving Jimmy all this attention.
Again, if you look at all of the other Volunteer Fire Stations throughout the state you'll learn that Wicomico County has far more equipment then any other Department. The Fire Service needs to be better managed and quite frankly the old adage of "Big Boys With big Toys" needs to come to an end.
Because of technology and the fact that more homes have smoke detectors, there are less and less fires, thankfully. What ticks so many people off is that the City of Salisbury keeps spending millions of dollars on new Fire Palaces with the latest and greatest gadgets.
That being said, here's another issue most of you are NOT aware of. The SFD is accredited. Now if you know me well enough, I'm a firm believer that ANY organization who is a part of any accreditation is a load of CRAP! What does the accreditation get you, NOTHING! What does it cost the taxpayer, MILLIONS upon MILLIONS of dollars.
These organizations have RULES. In order to be accredited you can only have a piece of equipment for so many years or so many miles. So what does the SFD do, they take that ladder truck and follow/chase every damn ambulance to rack up the miles and guess what, in no time they'll be FORCED to replace that million dollar unit and then sell it to Pittsville, (like they did with the last ladder truck) for $5,000.00. Yes, all at YOUR expense.
The SFD is not alone. The Salisbury Zoo goes through the very same crap, hence the new $3,000,000.00 Animal Services Building and exhibits. Does the Zoo need that palace, absolutely NOT. In fact the Zoo is one of the smallest Zoo's in the country and actually should NOT be accredited at all. The only reason they are is because the AZA, (at the time) wanted to recruit smaller Zoo's and Salisbury was suckered into it. Now it's costing you MILLIONS.
My main point here is, the more YOU taxpayers keep falling for these accredited organizations, (unions) the more money it's going to cost you. While actual fire calls are going down, your expenses keep skyrocketing. Eventually it starts catching up to you, hence a proposed 20% tax increase in Worcester County because they've run out of money. WHY did they run out of money? Well, who gets paid the most! Police Officers, Firefighters and Government Workers!!!!
Wake up people! This is just the very beginning. No one has DOWNSIZED in the City or Wicomico County, even though the Eastern Shore was hit the hardest in the recession, (depression) and we're nowhere near recovering.
Salisbury News is the ONLY news source that publishes the business closures and jobs reports and IF you've paid any attention, things are really bad here and they're getting worse. Heck, Ireton/Hoppes are asking for MORE Paid Firefighters, really.
Finally, in one sense I feel for Ireton and in another I feel for Culver. This Post is NOT about taking ANY ONE'S side. Both Leaders are in a very difficult position and the ONLY result is going to be extremely painful. The question is, who will feel the most pain. Will it be the Volunteer Fire Departments or will it be YOU the Taxpayer?
I look forward to your comments.
64 comments:
I do understand the per capita thing and agree that those monies need to be distributed on that basis, or a mileage basis since Pittsville will have to travel more miles than a local Salisbury ambulance will. And if accreditation doubles that mileage on every single call in the City, then it needs to be dropped.
My question is this, Joe. Is the same thing done between the three police departments with the cost of incarcerating and processing prisoners at the County Detention Center?
Salisbury is to big to be run by just volunteers this is not berlin md fools.
yeah, just like the new fire station they just built and the new fire engine can't even be parked in it due to the weight loads and the cracking of the pavement and concrete inside...
It is that mentality, if you build it they will come, and that for sure is a damn lie...
NO one goes to the library much anymore bc everything is online but hey lets build a new library... Hey lets build a new fire station where as the trucks can't even be parked in side due to weight... Lets build new schools because we all know a new school will make a kid smarter and learn right?
Don't you mean "lame stream media" sir?
9:17
You are completely wrong and misinformed.
I live on the outskirts of the county on the East Side. I want my First Responder Fire Company to have the equipment they need for any emergency. It's not about how many calls they go on, it's about having the right equipment to handle the right situation, even if it is one call. You are so wrong in looking at giving more money to those who make the most calls.
I cannot stand listening to Liarton speak - sounds like a woman when he talks and acts like a little spoiled kid who when he does not get his way, he throws a hissy fit. It is rather ironic that now Culver is head of the county that he brought this up while when Pollitt was our fearless leader, it was never mentioned!
Liarton is the worst mayor ever!
You have hit the nail on the head with this article.
9:45, Perhaps you won't mind a 20% tax increase like Worcester County is about to experience then.
Your local Fire Company already has the right kind of equipment and I'm confident they do a fine job with what they have.
Perhaps the Volunteer Departments can buy up every piece of equipment Salisbury unloads after only a few short years?
Here's what MANY of us have seen in the past. If properly managed, you can stock essential equipment and then have every other department hold a tanker and actually work TOGETHER like they do now. Have each department stock the FIRST RESPONDER equipment and IF other equipment is needed they can call in for additional help/equipment.
To me, the most important equipment absolutely necessary are ambulances. The best part about a County wide service would be that they can BILL insurance companies for that expense. If they divide EMS from the Fire Departments, they can actually hold their own financially because of the billing.
Thanks for your comment.
they'll be FORCED to replace that million dollar unit and then sell it to Pittsville, (like they did with the last ladder truck) for $5,000.00.
---
I remember when the paid men were instructed to take the ladder truck previous to that one sold to Pittville and bang the ladder against an old fire place and a tree just to bend or warp the the ladder. Then they were able to get a new ladder truck. Problem was they bought a used ladder truck and then sold it to Pittsville for pennies on the dollar. Then they bought a $million dollar fire truck that rarely gets used. When they do use it they wreck it because it is way to big for these city streets and the firemen can't drive it.
"Both Leaders are in a very difficult position..."
The problem I see here is that you are giving Ireton to much credit. He is not a leader!
One misconception you have is that Salisbury receives the same funding as all the other departments in the county, this is incorrect. Salisbury receives TRIPLE the amount of money ($720,000 vs. $240,000).
Another thing to consider is that it takes the same amount of equipment to put a house fire out in Eden as it does in Salisbury. In fact, probably more so, as Salisbury may have hydrants and has mutual aid close even if water has to be brought in from Delmar or Fruitland. Meanwhile places like Eden are quite a ways away from nearest department.
That is also why your per capita formula doesn't work, think of how spread out Wicomico is, verus PG county or something, doesn't matter if there is 50,000 people living there or 1,000, again how far away is the equipment placed and it takes the same amount of water (tankers) to put the fire out.
9:17 ,you are wrong on many levels. There are areas in this county that run much bigger areas than salisbury, all volunteers.
Well written article. The reason that Salisbury has so much equipment is because they have the personnel and the training to support the surrounding jurisdictions with the specialty calls such as Hazmat, Dive, Trench rescue, etc. I realize that those types of calls are few and far between but when they do happen you need the right equipment with the people who know how to use it. And with all that equipment you need the different trucks to carry it. This is no way a knock on the volunteers but until they are able to have the equipment with the trained people to operate it, they will be forced to rely on the SFD when those types of calls happen. I do agree that the SFD has too much equipment but if they didn't have it then you would be waiting way too long for someone who did.
Ok, Sussex county does have 5 or 6 paramedic chase stations. Each station has two paramedics employees 24/7, and each station has 2 chase vehicles. HOWEVER since all they have are chase vehicles, they rely on the fire departments to maintain and staff their ambulances with EMT's so that patients can be transported. Most if not every fire department in Sussex County employs between 2-4 EMTs 24/7 to run their EMS calls. Depending on the nature of the call a paramedic chase unit may be dispatched as well. Believe it or not this system WILL actually cost the county more money than what they currently pay for to the fire departments for EMS services. The county currently pays the fire fire departments around $160,000/yr for EMS services. Her is what it costs for a department to pay for single paramedic coverage 24/365 at $18/hr w/health insurance, minimal "401k" contributions, yearly uniform replacement, and workers comp ins; $225,680. So as you can see the county departments are already in the hole by $65,280/yr. this money has to come out of the money's they receive from medical billing. Many of you believe that these departments are "making a killing" from medical billing, that just isn't true. A county department is lucky if they receive $100,000 each year from medical billing. Lower call volume departments such as Powellville, Willards, Mardella, Sharptown, and Allen are lucky to receive $50-60,000/yr in medical billing. So as you can see no department is making a killing from their EMS services, it is often that they wind up actually in the hole (red) for their yearly EMS budget. Now for how the Sussex system would cost more. Two EMT's staffed 24/7 at each station at $12/hr, health insurance, retirement contributions, workers comp, and uniform replacement would cost; $346,240/yr. Then the cost to pay for 10 paramedic 24/365 coverage (2 paramedics staffing at 5 seperate stations) at $18/hr, health insurance, retirement contributions, workers comp ins, and uniform replacment; $2,256,800. That's 40 full time paramedics (2 paramedics per station each day X 5 stations X 24/72 schedule rotation = 40 paramedics). Assuming that you would only staff 9 of the 13 stations in Wicomico County with 2 EMT's 24/365 on the typical 24/72 schedule that the county currently utilizes, that would be 72 full time EMTs (2 EMT's per station per day X 9 stations X 24/72 shift rotation = 72 EMTs). Just the EMT's would cost $3,116,160/yr. So just for the employee staffing costs would be $2,256,800 + $3,116,160 = &5,372,960.00. That still doe not county ANY vehicle, equipment, supplies, or building costs. Wicomico county currently only pays out $160,000 per station for EMS coverage, multiply that times 13 stations; $2,080,000.00. You can quickly see how the Sussex system would cost Wicomico County 3-4 times as much per year.
The other thing they need to consider is sending every unit out to a call....
If they want to do that for training purposes - OK - just don't bill out for it on a charge back basis.....
10:05, Salisbury also has more Fire Departments, hence the divided funds. Pittsville has ONE, Salisbury has several.
MOST people have mortgages and are required to have insurance. While I'm doing my very best to NOT take sides in this article, with all due respect, I'm perfectly comfortable with having a Volunteer Fire Company come to our home and put out our fire. Our insurance company does NOT discriminate between paid or volunteer.
10:07, Scare tactics are a typical Liberal form of saying we need things that we don't.
In a perfect world it would be great for everyone to have everything they WANT. In my world it has always been more about what we NEED.
So let's expand. Do we WANT or NEED a Fire Boat, or two? My answer wouold be, NEITHER. But it's always about the "what if's" with you guys. Does Pittsville NEED a Ladder Truck, NO. We could go on and on but the reality is, something is about to change and EVERYONE bettter be prepared for some financial changes. It's been a nice ride butu the RECESSION/DEPRESSION has finally hit ALL of us. Yet your not going to hear that from the rest of the media.
So when Salisbury finishes yet another Fire Palace, funny how Ireton is screaming his head off AFTER they are under construction for yet anotrher Palace they can't afford. I know, blame it on Bob Culver. NO, blame it on the leadership of the LIBERALS and their tax and spend nature.
Like what I have published, or not, it is reality. The real question you need to look long and hard at is, are YOU going to continue to allow your local media to keep covering up the FACTS and TRUTH? These people aren't REPORTERS, they're Liberal ACTORS reading from Mayor Jim Ireton's SCRIPT.
10:08, OK, so do tell everyone what will happen IF Jim Ireton cuts the County off on July 1st? Culver would be wise to start his own EMS Units and again, there's BILLING involved in which they could easily recoup 100% of the expenses to house each station.
No more ultimatums. SECURE the County residents and taxpayers. In fact, if I was Culver I'd take over the Salisbury Fire Department, period.
Anonymous said...
Salisbury is to big to be run by just volunteers this is not berlin md fools.
April 27, 2015 at 9:17 AM
The whole county is to big to be ran by volunteers. The County Executive and County Council just throws money at the problem without even doing a study to find out if they really need the money they ask for. If there was a paid fire chief and all moneys spent went to one source to be processed and approved then you will see the tax payers saving millions of dollars a year. Something as simple as fire gear could save thousands if bought through one vendor and everyone had the same type of gear.
Most every fire station has a ladder truck. Not needed. The county can get away with 2 ladder trucks.
Most every fire station has a rescue truck. Not needed. Most major cities have only 1 rescue truck. Wicomico County can use only 1 and that would be sufficient.
Most fire stations have multiple tanker trucks to carry water. Not needed.
Most departments have brush trucks. Not needed.
Most departments have multiple fire engines. Not needed.
If they ran box alarms and stations were specialized with a tanker, ladder truck, brush truck or rescue truck the citizens would save millions and it can be done efficiently.
Most every fire station has 2 or more ambulances. Not needed. You mentioned Allan and they don't even need an ambulance. Fruitland didn't need an ambulance because Salisbury covered both areas with ease. The only reason the volunteer fire departments got the ambulances is so that they can get more funding from the County and then they could also bill for ambulance calls and keep the money. If the county gives money to the volunteer fire departments including Salisbury for the ambulances and the paid paramedics then the County should be able to do ALL the ambulance billing and recoup that money. But no they let the volunteer fireman bill for the calls and then they use that money to buy brand new fire trucks loaded with chrome and all the accessories so they can win trophies in parades.
The county is big enough that they should be in control of a Countywide EMS division just like Sussex County, Dorchester County, Caroline County, Talbot County, Queen Annes County, Kent County, and Cecil County. All of the Counties on the Eastern Shore have their own County Wide EMS. All of the Counties on the Western Shore have some form of County wide EMS. Now can Wicomico County tell me and the rest of the County tax payers why we don't have a county wide EMS program? Why are we wasting millions of dollars a year on these volunteer fire departments without knowing where the money goes. They might tell the county how they spent the money, but there is never an audit done to check the facts. Wicomico County tax payers are being ripped off by the leaders in the county because they are to lazy to come up with a plan to save you millions of tax dollars a year. They are not concerned with your property or you life to make sure each department and it's members are properly certified to be a fire chief or any fire officer. They are made fire chiefs through popularity contests called elections every year. It is the good ole boy system and they are not qualified to make decisions on saving your property or your life.
The elected officials in the county are afraid to upset the volunteer firemen and lose their vote. To bad! Make your elected officials accountable in Wicomico County NOW!!
Fire palace is right. A ton of expense is luxuary in station 16. What a waste. You talk about ambulances/fire trucks should stay within a certain limit from their fire station, what about your employee who drives the company vehicle home during work hours, for lunch or a pill outside the city all the way out on Snow Hill Road.
I should add, the City does run more calls into the County then most want to admit. Now, a LOT of that is because of the actual maps and those communities that ASKED to annex into the City. The map is a real mess buut that too can be ironed out once Jake Day and Bob Culver meet and negotiate this mattter.
What's also important is the fact that none of this will happen before July 1st. Later today we'll deliver the entire package Ireton delivered to Culver. It's more than 100 pages of information. ALL of that has to be CONFIRMED and Ireton knows it. Anyone would assume the figures are inflated because that's what Liberals do.
10:07 is a paid fireman trying to justify his job and to justify all the wasted equipment Salisbury has by calling it specialized equipment.
He fails to mention that the volunteers take the same classes that he does.
Sounds like 10:08 is scared to death about losing their job.
but what about the children?
Where.
To 10:08 sounds like when you are done working for the fire department try being an accountant. LOL
@ Joe 10:22,
Honestly I would be in favor of Culver taking over and starting a County EMS service instead of the way it is right now. I was just pointing out that the county currently UNDER PAYS every fire department for the EMS services that they currently provide and that the Sussex system would cost the county far more than what it currently pays out. I addressed medical billing in an earlier article (Hoppes's little meeting article). As far as medical billing goes as single station may bill for $300,000 each year, however they are lucky if they receive $100,000 from billing each year. Most all insurance companies won't pay for any BLS call (they say it wasn't a true emergency) and they only pay for about 33% of what's billed for an ALS call. So then the remainder of the bill is sent to the patient themselves to pay. As I stated in the other article that the departments (can't speak for Salisbury) send out 2 notices of the unpaid bill, if they don't recieve payment after the 2 notices the department writes it off as a charitable donation. They DO NOT send it to collections, mainly because collections can be a huge hassle and they would have to pay a lawyer to constantly be in court over it. Now a county based system would make it much easier to pay for 1 lawyer to take care of that.
Now, if Ireton does block the SFD from responding out of the city, then honestly departments such as Parsonsburg, Fruitland, Hebron, and Delmar would obviously experience a drastic increase in call volume. Likely to a point where they would HAVE to increase paid staffing to cover the calls. Which would then cost those departments considerably more money. Yes, they would also recieve more money from medical billing. However based on my experience of how medical billing works, that alone would not be enough, as honestly it's not enough right now with their current call volume.
Personally I think it would be a good idea to let SFD only run within the city. Make the city foot the whole bill for them, reduce the city tax payers county tax so that it reflects no county fire/EMS tax. Increase the county tax to the county residents so that the remaining 10 county fire departments can recieve the funding necessary to cover all county calls minus the city calls. Yes I am a county property tax payer, actually I own 2 homes in the county, so I pay for 2 county property taxes and yes I would be willing to pay another $100-150ea per year if it meant that the county fire department got the proper fuming each year. I feel as if this would be the fairest deal between the county and city tax payers.
Maybe its time for the county residents within the SFD's coverage area to start a petition. Let Culver know we don't want SFD coming. Make it a county run service.
My comment is Ireton wins, Culver loses. Nuff said.
First the city should stop transporting non emergencies to the ER. These Non Paying calls know that if they go by ambulance they don't have to wait for a bed in the ER.
Secondly, stop the misuse of this very expensive equipment going to grocery stores, restaurants , Rita's etc.
Third, stop the engines from chasing every ambulance call.
Just these. three items would save the city alot of money.
Joe, how did you get so smart?
Stop sending a pumper for every ambulance call and to go get dinner and that's a big savings and stop building elaborate firehouses that costs thousands to maintain,bring back volunteers.
You're right I am a paid fireman. You're wrong about everything else though. I don't need to justify my job to anybody, the volunteers do that for us by failing to get out on call, after call, after call. And how many volunteer HazMat techs are there?? How many volunteer divers are there?? How many volunteers are qualified to drive the boats?? You guys might take the same classes initially, but very few of you continue to take classes once you reach the bare minimum.
Exactly......this expensive equipment rides all over Salisbury! Employees even swing by home during office hours.
9:11 said: "Is the same thing done between the three police departments with the cost of incarcerating and processing prisoners at the County Detention Center?"
The difference is that the county imposed its property tax on city property in Salisbury, Delmar and Fruitland, so a large portion of the funding for the detention
center comes from that source.
However, the city handles most of the fire and ems calls, but gets only a small part of the county funding for fire service.
Don't compare apples with oranges.
Anonymous Anonymous said...
@ Joe 10:22,
Honestly I would be in favor of Culver taking over and starting a County EMS service instead of the way it is right now. I was just pointing out that the county currently UNDER PAYS every fire department for the EMS services that they currently provide and that the Sussex system would cost the county far more than what it currently pays out. I addressed medical billing in an earlier article (Hoppes's little meeting article). As far as medical billing goes as single station may bill for $300,000 each year, however they are lucky if they receive $100,000 from billing each year. Most all insurance companies won't pay for any BLS call (they say it wasn't a true emergency) and they only pay for about 33% of what's billed for an ALS call. So then the remainder of the bill is sent to the patient themselves to pay. As I stated in the other article that the departments (can't speak for Salisbury) send out 2 notices of the unpaid bill, if they don't recieve payment after the 2 notices the department writes it off as a charitable donation. They DO NOT send it to collections, mainly because collections can be a huge hassle and they would have to pay a lawyer to constantly be in court over it. Now a county based system would make it much easier to pay for 1 lawyer to take care of that.
Now, if Ireton does block the SFD from responding out of the city, then honestly departments such as Parsonsburg, Fruitland, Hebron, and Delmar would obviously experience a drastic increase in call volume. Likely to a point where they would HAVE to increase paid staffing to cover the calls. Which would then cost those departments considerably more money. Yes, they would also recieve more money from medical billing. However based on my experience of how medical billing works, that alone would not be enough, as honestly it's not enough right now with their current call volume.
Personally I think it would be a good idea to let SFD only run within the city. Make the city foot the whole bill for them, reduce the city tax payers county tax so that it reflects no county fire/EMS tax. Increase the county tax to the county residents so that the remaining 10 county fire departments can recieve the funding necessary to cover all county calls minus the city calls. Yes I am a county property tax payer, actually I own 2 homes in the county, so I pay for 2 county property taxes and yes I would be willing to pay another $100-150ea per year if it meant that the county fire department got the proper fuming each year. I feel as if this would be the fairest deal between the county and city tax payers.
April 27, 2015 at 11:04 AM
You are absolutely incorrect about your facts and figures. You are obviously a volunteer fireman who is afraid to lose your cash cow called an ambulance. Your pathetic figures are so low that you are trying to scare off anyone that wants a paid EMS service. Screw your two homes because I own a lot more and I have family all over the county. Get a life you TICK!!
Anonymous said...
One misconception you have is that Salisbury receives the same funding as all the other departments in the county, this is incorrect. Salisbury receives TRIPLE the amount of money ($720,000 vs. $240,000).
Another thing to consider is that it takes the same amount of equipment to put a house fire out in Eden as it does in Salisbury. In fact, probably more so, as Salisbury may have hydrants and has mutual aid close even if water has to be brought in from Delmar or Fruitland. Meanwhile places like Eden are quite a ways away from nearest department.
That is also why your per capita formula doesn't work, think of how spread out Wicomico is, verus PG county or something, doesn't matter if there is 50,000 people living there or 1,000, again how far away is the equipment placed and it takes the same amount of water (tankers) to put the fire out.
April 27, 2015 at 10:05 AM
Blogger ranger3325 said...
9:17 ,you are wrong on many levels. There are areas in this county that run much bigger areas than salisbury, all volunteers.
April 27, 2015 at 10:06 AM
You are incorrect also. Salisbury receives well over $1 Million per year from the county.
This situation has existed for decades because the County politicians -- Pollitt and before his reign, Phil Tilghman, Sarbanes, Vic Laws, Sr., Henry Parker and others and their long-time guru, Creamer, were scared to anger the county volunteer departments because of the possible political reaction. So those departments got the lions share of the funds and now have way too much equipment for the size and population of the County, while the city of Salisbury departments do most of the service.
It's absurd.
Anonymous said...
Ok, Sussex county does have 5 or 6 paramedic chase stations. Each station has two paramedics employees 24/7, and each station has 2 chase vehicles. HOWEVER since all they have are chase vehicles, they rely on the fire departments to maintain and staff their ambulances with EMT's so that patients can be transported. Most if not every fire department in Sussex County employs between 2-4 EMTs 24/7 to run their EMS calls. Depending on the nature of the call a paramedic chase unit may be dispatched as well. Believe it or not this system WILL actually cost the county more money than what they currently pay for to the fire departments for EMS services. The county currently pays the fire fire departments around $160,000/yr for EMS services. Her is what it costs for a department to pay for single paramedic coverage 24/365 at $18/hr w/health insurance, minimal "401k" contributions, yearly uniform replacement, and workers comp ins; $225,680. So as you can see the county departments are already in the hole by $65,280/yr. this money has to come out of the money's they receive from medical billing. Many of you believe that these departments are "making a killing" from medical billing, that just isn't true. A county department is lucky if they receive $100,000 each year from medical billing. Lower call volume departments such as Powellville, Willards, Mardella, Sharptown, and Allen are lucky to receive $50-60,000/yr in medical billing. So as you can see no department is making a killing from their EMS services, it is often that they wind up actually in the hole (red) for their yearly EMS budget. Now for how the Sussex system would cost more. Two EMT's staffed 24/7 at each station at $12/hr, health insurance, retirement contributions, workers comp, and uniform replacement would cost; $346,240/yr. Then the cost to pay for 10 paramedic 24/365 coverage (2 paramedics staffing at 5 seperate stations) at $18/hr, health insurance, retirement contributions, workers comp ins, and uniform replacment; $2,256,800. That's 40 full time paramedics (2 paramedics per station each day X 5 stations X 24/72 schedule rotation = 40 paramedics). Assuming that you would only staff 9 of the 13 stations in Wicomico County with 2 EMT's 24/365 on the typical 24/72 schedule that the county currently utilizes, that would be 72 full time EMTs (2 EMT's per station per day X 9 stations X 24/72 shift rotation = 72 EMTs). Just the EMT's would cost $3,116,160/yr. So just for the employee staffing costs would be $2,256,800 + $3,116,160 = &5,372,960.00. That still doe not county ANY vehicle, equipment, supplies, or building costs. Wicomico county currently only pays out $160,000 per station for EMS coverage, multiply that times 13 stations; $2,080,000.00. You can quickly see how the Sussex system would cost Wicomico County 3-4 times as much per year.
April 27, 2015 at 10:08 AM
This clown DESPERATELY does not want the county to take over EMS.
You've got it made with your gravy job as a paid paramedic in a volunteer station don't you. You are afraid you may have to actually do some work for a change. LMAO!! Bob is smarter than that.
JoeAlbero said...
10:08, OK, so do tell everyone what will happen IF Jim Ireton cuts the County off on July 1st? Culver would be wise to start his own EMS Units and again, there's BILLING involved in which they could easily recoup 100% of the expenses to house each station.
No more ultimatums. SECURE the County residents and taxpayers. In fact, if I was Culver I'd take over the Salisbury Fire Department, period.
April 27, 2015 at 10:22 AM
I agree with you in many ways.
The County Council should pass legislation that makes them the sole providers of Fire and EMS in Wicomico County. Heck, go a step further and make 1 county wide police department.
The whole county is to big to be ran by volunteers. The County Executive and County Council just throws money at the problem without even doing a study to find out if they really need the money they ask for. If there was a paid fire chief and all moneys spent went to one source to be processed and approved then you will see the tax payers saving millions of dollars a year. Something as simple as fire gear could save thousands if bought through one vendor and everyone had the same type of gear.
Most every fire station has a ladder truck. Not needed. The county can get away with 2 ladder trucks.
Most every fire station has a rescue truck. Not needed. Most major cities have only 1 rescue truck. Wicomico County can use only 1 and that would be sufficient.
Most fire stations have multiple tanker trucks to carry water. Not needed.
Most departments have brush trucks. Not needed.
Most departments have multiple fire engines. Not needed.
If they ran box alarms and stations were specialized with a tanker, ladder truck, brush truck or rescue truck the citizens would save millions and it can be done efficiently.
Most every fire station has 2 or more ambulances. Not needed. You mentioned Allan and they don't even need an ambulance. Fruitland didn't need an ambulance because Salisbury covered both areas with ease. The only reason the volunteer fire departments got the ambulances is so that they can get more funding from the County and then they could also bill for ambulance calls and keep the money. If the county gives money to the volunteer fire departments including Salisbury for the ambulances and the paid paramedics then the County should be able to do ALL the ambulance billing and recoup that money. But no they let the volunteer fireman bill for the calls and then they use that money to buy brand new fire trucks loaded with chrome and all the accessories so they can win trophies in parades.
The county is big enough that they should be in control of a Countywide EMS division just like Sussex County, Dorchester County, Caroline County, Talbot County, Queen Annes County, Kent County, and Cecil County. All of the Counties on the Eastern Shore have their own County Wide EMS. All of the Counties on the Western Shore have some form of County wide EMS. Now can Wicomico County tell me and the rest of the County tax payers why we don't have a county wide EMS program? Why are we wasting millions of dollars a year on these volunteer fire departments without knowing where the money goes. They might tell the county how they spent the money, but there is never an audit done to check the facts. Wicomico County tax payers are being ripped off by the leaders in the county because they are to lazy to come up with a plan to save you millions of tax dollars a year. They are not concerned with your property or you life to make sure each department and it's members are properly certified to be a fire chief or any fire officer. They are made fire chiefs through popularity contests called elections every year. It is the good ole boy system and they are not qualified to make decisions on saving your property or your life.
The elected officials in the county are afraid to upset the volunteer firemen and lose their vote. To bad! Make your elected officials accountable in Wicomico County NOW!!
Right on the Money!!
If you have someone having a heart attack or stroke or your child has a head injury, every second counts to get to medical care. People who are smarter and more experienced than elected politicians should be making these types of decisions. It seems to me it is time to bring in an consultant with no skin in the game to sort it all out.
Shock Trauma made the "golden hour" concept a rule to live by. This County and City need to act like grown-ups if they can't be statesmen and bring in the experts to figure it out....and the volunteer fire departments need to be willing to listen too.
Anonymous said...
My comment is Ireton wins, Culver loses. Nuff said.
April 27, 2015 at 12:02 PM
What's your point??
Anonymous said...
You're right I am a paid fireman. You're wrong about everything else though. I don't need to justify my job to anybody, the volunteers do that for us by failing to get out on call, after call, after call. And how many volunteer HazMat techs are there?? How many volunteer divers are there?? How many volunteers are qualified to drive the boats?? You guys might take the same classes initially, but very few of you continue to take classes once you reach the bare minimum.
April 27, 2015 at 12:54 PM
This guy proves that paid firemen in Salisbury have that "Better Than Thou" attitude.
Just because you have a paid fire job in Salisbury does not make you more superior to volunteers in the County or anywhere in the state.
"How many volunteers are qualified to drive the boats?" What boats? You mean the one that has been in Service in Salisbury for several years now and has yet to respond on it's first fire call! You mean that $1 Million turd that floats called the S.S. Hoppes! You mean that boat that wasted millions of dollars since it was built! You mean that boat that was never needed! Yeah, that's the one.
All fire departments in the County have divers, boat operators, Haz Mat Technicians, Paramedics, EMT's, Firefighters and yes they are qualified. You have nothing on them.
One thing is for sure I am more qualified than you and Hoppes put together and I am not paid.
Anonymous said...
This situation has existed for decades because the County politicians -- Pollitt and before his reign, Phil Tilghman, Sarbanes, Vic Laws, Sr., Henry Parker and others and their long-time guru, Creamer, were scared to anger the county volunteer departments because of the possible political reaction. So those departments got the lions share of the funds and now have way too much equipment for the size and population of the County, while the city of Salisbury departments do most of the service.
It's absurd.
April 27, 2015 at 1:03 PM
You are only partially correct so quit tooting your horn as a Salisbury paid fireman.
Anonymous Anonymous said...
If you have someone having a heart attack or stroke or your child has a head injury, every second counts to get to medical care. People who are smarter and more experienced than elected politicians should be making these types of decisions. It seems to me it is time to bring in an consultant with no skin in the game to sort it all out.
Shock Trauma made the "golden hour" concept a rule to live by. This County and City need to act like grown-ups if they can't be statesmen and bring in the experts to figure it out....and the volunteer fire departments need to be willing to listen too.
April 27, 2015 at 1:12 PM
You must be a paid firemen in Salisbury. I agree with you, but the fact of the matter is that Wicomico County needs to have it's own EMS. It's a shame that a county like Sussex County who was backwards for many years finally got some balls and started County wide EMS for their citizens. Not only was this done in Sussex County it was done in all 3 of Delaware's Counties and it was made through State of Delaware legislation. There is no such thing as volunteer Paramedics in Delaware and that is the best thing that could have happened to the State. They have top notch Paramedics who out compete Paramedics through out the nation and that is a fact. No volunteer Paramedics or even any Paramedics from Salisbury could hold a candle to Sussex Counties paid Paramedics. That is by far the best legislation that has ever been enacted for EMS.
How much of the equipment that the volunteers own have been paid for using money they RAISED? Look at the fund raisers some of the county departments have. Bingo, Gun Bash, Dinners etc. Now look at how many fund raisers Salisbury has had? I guess they don't need to raise funds they just cry to the city to give them more unneeded stuff.
get ready salisbury. Here comes another tax increase.
I bet Rick Sleazy Pollitt is snickering in a corner somewhere for not taking care of this ff situation.
You better hope if your in city limits and you do have an emergency.....the employee in command doesn't end up in the back of and ambulance and the reason being .....not a job related injury....a recreational problem. I am tired of paying for these idiots!
This important story should be back at the top.
April 27, 2015 at 10:25 AM
10:25AM From what rock did you crawl out? 1 Rescue Truck to cover this whole County? If the Rescue was stationed in Willards and you were in Nanticoke, Allen or Sharptown trapped in a vehicle would you want to wait 30+ minutes to be resuced? How about learning what the Golden Hour is. Multiple Tankers are needed, many Companies cover a lot of territory that do not have hydrants or water supplies for drafting.
The Fire Departments are here for life & property. They need the equipment to be prepared for any tragedy. Would you want to have an extended wait if your family was in Cardiac Arrest or your house was on fire?
April 27, 2015 at 12:54 PM
12:54PM you have the mentality of a paid firefighter...God!
There are quite a few Volunteer Fire Departments that have HazMat Tech, Rescue Tech, Divers and know how to operate boats, you don't "drive" boats! MFRI has quite a few awesome instructors that are Volunteer Fire Fighter/EMT/EMT-P's.
I can guarantee the Volunteer Fire Departments conduct more training than any of the paid SBY Stations!!
Do you really think you can dive or operate a boat better than the guys in Station 14 or Station 12 who grew up doing these things and many of them do daily on the Nanticoke River?
Get over yourself. The County going with their own EMS System would be a major cost to the County and they still need the individual departments ambulances for transporting. Do you really think they are going to transport in a chase vehicle?
@ 11:04,
Actually I'm a PAID paramedic (although I also volunteer my services too), who also has done medical billing. What experience exactly do you have with fire department medical billing? The figures I posted are spot on. Don't believe me, call your health insurance company and ask.
Actually I mentioned that I would be in favor of Culver starting a county EMS system. I have no problems what so ever running calls, I quite enjoy helping others.. After all I did spend my money to go to school for it.
12:58,
So you are saying that having the County run the fire and EMS is the more intelligent arrangement?
I think I have to agree with you on that.
Kenny Walston for Wicomico County Fire Chief. Past 550 can run your county like he ran Somerset County. Success with a squad, no Towers or Engines needed. Excavator 5 tearing a house down near you.
OMG, just combine City/County Services and stop with all the who does what, when.
The problem is to many people call themselves dragon slayers and believe the Fire Department is for self promotion and photo ops. Put down the magazines with articles by cowards telling you to reset the fire from the front yard and put on your fireman costume and put it out from the inside! Leather helmets and Oakley sunglasses due not make you a Fireman, neither do pathetic photo ops of you in your gear holding a tool with a cool story about yourself. Learn your job and settle for a pat on the back from your brother and maybe people will not laugh at you.
I agree with 4:01. I don't understand why there is such an I am "the man" attitude because you work for the fire department. Oakley ' s and a special tag on your car doesn't make you king. People might have a different perspective if most of you were humble. Represent with class. Don't hang out at the bars wearing your fire department t shirts or sweat shirts with your "I am special beer mugs". If the bosses would just clean house half of this wouldn't be posted...but you have no one to blame but yourselves. Pick and choose what is important. ..which should be the public that would truly need ems/firefighters in a true emergency. How many passes do those bad apples get. If a doctor in the ER screwed up as many times as some of your employees Hoppes...they would have no job and a big lawsuit. It is obvious to me that there is a skeleton in the closet. So how does it make you feel deep down to keep the public paying for your bad calls/mistakes.
Dover DE is bigger and is covered by volunteer fire
Wrong try 971000
Square miles Hebron
Wrong on many accounts only 4 ladder trucks for 11 stations in the county. Tankers are needed for the water very few hydrants in the county. Only two heavy rescues in the county. I could go on to contradict the above info 9:17
Westside, sharptown, Hebron have dive teams. Westside, allen, mardela, sharptown have boats. Pasonsburg has hazmat techs.
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