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'It's slowly becoming worse': Idaho EMS ask for 'essential service' status

The state's EMS Bureau aims to make EMS an essential service next legislative session.

SHOSHONE, Idaho — Hidden between a roadside industrial garage and doublewide trailer, a pair of first responders maintain the only in-service Lincoln County ambulance through alternating 48-hour shifts.

365 days a year, they're on call.

"People don't realize they need us until they need us," Emergency Medical Technician Correy Kraus said. "It's satisfying."

But, not essential according to state code. Idaho has no legal statute to ensure Emergency Medical Service (EMS) across the state like it does with police and fire fighters. State lawmakers are asking the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare (IDHW) to bring legislation forward in 2024 to ensure EMS gain 'essential service' status, according to Senate Concurrent Resolution 101.

Local hospitals or private companies regularly provide EMS service; Lincoln County has neither.

"As an example, the county subsidizes us about $100,000 every year just to keep the ambulance service going," Lincoln County Ambulance District Director Marc Essary said. "This is the only ambulance in service right now for this entire county."

Lincoln County EMS responds to about two calls a day. If they receive a third call - or simultaneous scene require assistance - the county often turns to neighboring EMS programs for help. Sometimes, volunteers will leave their day job and grab a back-up ambulance in Shoshone to respond to the second scene.

IDHW's Bureau of Emergency Medical Services and Preparedness is working with all 44 counties to document coverage gaps and issues like that in Lincoln County. It will take years before the state can create sustainable EMS statewide; however, they anticipate their first steps of action in the 2024 legislative session, according to bureau chief Wayne Denny.

"It's a cost share where the state helps offset the cost the counties are bearing," Denny said. "So, it becomes a question of fairness. Should we ask, and in some counties where the population is very small, the taxpayers of that county to try to fit the bill to provide the EMS coverage for the highway, interstate, whatever that runs through. You start to get to the point where it's like, they can't do it, it's not possible."

Denny believes EMS should be considered an essential service and plans to include this change of status in upcoming 2024 legislation.

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