Report says Pike Co. 'no longer has EMS crisis'. Here's how funding will keep it that way

Seventeen Emergency Medical Technicians (EMTs) are now serving in Pike County, their training having been paid through a special fund established by the county three years ago to counter understaffing of local ambulance company crews.

In October, the commissioners announced that steps are being taken to enhance this fund and keep it going.

The commissioners have decided to allocate $50,000 to the Pike County Emergency Services Initiative Fund (PCESI), from the monies distributed to Pike County by the American Rescue Plan Act. This federal initiative was designed to help communities in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The purpose of the fund is to create adequate funding for emergency service response agencies in Pike County to enable interested individuals to pay for EMT training. The classes are held at the Pike County Training Center in Lords Valley.

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Making a difference

Since the PCESI began, the fund has saved local EMS agencies $35,260 in EMT course fees; supported five EMT classes at the Pike County Training Center (with another class underway); and resulted in 20 new EMTs from the program. All but three of these EMTs are now serving Pike County.

The EMT classes, to date, have had 74 students enrolled.

Tim Knapp, Emergency Management Agency Director said that he believes each of the eight active ambulance companies have benefitted from the program. The students need to be sponsored by a fire or EMS department in Pike County to receive this assistance. There is an option to pay if someone from outside the county wishes to enroll.

The cost for the training is $750 and the 200-hour course involves two class days a week.

Knapp stated that the PCESI fund definitely has been responsible for putting more EMTs in service in Pike. Without it, the aspiring EMTs may have been able to have been reimbursed by the fire or ambulance company, but a lot of the students paid out of their own pocket prior to the fund, Knapp said.

"The Tafton Fire Company does have a few students enrolled in the program and has benefitted the overall ambulance division," Tafton Fire Chief Mike Miller said.

Jeff Degroat, fire chief, Shohola Fire & Rescue Company reported that their company has gained two EMTs through the program and have two more currently in the EMT class.

"It has allowed us to use our own members to staff the ambulance through the staffing company," he said.

Bushkill Volunteer Fire Company doesn't have an ambulance, but some of their firefighters are also EMTs. Board member Wilfredo Cresco said that the county EMT training program has encouraged more members to become trained. The company historically would pay for the EMT training which becomes quite costly, he noted. The fire company has a Quick Response Service which means they may get to a medical scene or crash scene ahead of the ambulance company and begin to evaluate and treat the patient.

Seed money which led to establishing the PCESI came from donations from the law firm of Weinstein, Zimmerman & Ohliger; William Lovejoy and other individuals.

In addition to training EMTs, the fund also is enabling those enrolled to learn CPR and First Aid requirements, Knapp said. "If there's a cardiac call or something of that nature, we dispatch the closest firehouse too, so this fund actually trains them at the basic level to be able to assist them as well," Knapp stated. "It does a lot more than just the EMS side."

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Greater Pike's role

Greater Pike Community Foundation administers the fund.

It started out as a temporary fund, but with the $50,000 allocation Greater Pike is designating it as a permanent fund. Donations will be invested and distribution made to this one cause, to train persons in Pike County for emergency medical services or to upgrade or renew their certifications through required training.

At Greater Pike's 10th anniversary annual dinner October 6 at the Tom Quick Inn, PCESI was named as one of the Foundation's 10-for-10 Initiative recipients.

Greater Pike is challenging as many as 10 local non-profit organizations to start what is known as an organizational endowment fund by the end of this year. Each of the approved funds will receive a one-time $1,000 gift from Greater Pike in matching funds. The organization that sets up one of these funds becomes the beneficiary, to help its cause be maintained and flourish.

These funds are meant to provide opportunities for generous individuals, families and area businesses to maximize their charitable giving by means of organized, targeted, long-term community philanthropy, as stated in a press release issued by the commissioners.

Jennifer Hamill, the director at Greater Pike, commented, “I think the most important part is seeing all aspects of our community working together, residents, business owners and government officials working with Greater Pike to solve this problem."

Meeting crisis head-on

In the county's statement, Knapp said, “We have worked hard to improve EMS in the County. To train people is a big process and we couldn’t do it without the Greater Pike Community Foundation and the Commissioners support. Thank you.”

In July, Knapp presented an encouraging report to the commissioners that Pike County no longer has an "EMS crisis". He showed how a funding match approved by the commissioners to encourage Pike County's municipalities to enact an EMS tax or in some other way raise funding for their ambulance companies, has improved the average response time for an ambulance crew.

Commissioner Chairman Matthew Osterberg said that although the responsibility to provide for emergence medical services falls on the municipalities, given the magnitude of the problem the county had to step up to help.

Establishment of the PCESI fund is another way local companies are able to fully staff ambulances and get to someone's house or other medical emergency scene quicker.

Knapp told the commissioners at the October 5 meeting that they are hoping to start an Advanced EMT (AEMT) program at the Training Center. They are in the process of finding what they need to do that to possibly start a class in about six months. "An AEMT is a step above EMT; they do a lot of stuff that paramedics do in an ambulance, " Knapp said. "It will benefit everybody. That's our next step."

Osterberg commented that in order to continue to protect their community, more funding is needed to expand the EMT classes and train more people.

He announced a "community challenge" to match some of the funds to grow the principal. "To kick off this Challenge, myself, Commissioners Schmalzle and Waldron, Solicitor Farley, and Chief Clerk Gromalski have donated $500 of our own funds to the PCESI,” he said.

Lovejoy also announced he will contribute an additional $2,500 to the PCESI Fund.

Donations to the fund can be made online at www.greaterpike.org or checks can be made payable to GPCF/PCESI and mailed to P.O. Box 992, Milford, PA 18337.

This article originally appeared on Tri-County Independent: Pike County EMT class fund boosts ambulance service crews