EMS Story Archives - West Virginia Public Broadcasting

New Laws Benefit Some EMS Issues, Ignore Budget Requests

Several new state laws are meant to help the state’s understaffed Emergency Medical Services. But maintaining statewide EMS operations remains a challenge.

Before Senate Bill 533 became law, many EMS runs were like Ubers, only getting paid to transport. Now, ambulance units will be reimbursed for care provided at the scene, even if they don’t transport the patient.

Executive Director of the West Virginia EMS Coalition Chris Hall said the legislation speaks to the cause of readiness.

“There’s an acute cost,” Hall said. “Particularly in our rural areas where you may have less than one call a day to keep an ambulance available 24/7. When that call comes out, you respond to the scene and then you don’t get paid, it really makes it difficult to maintain the service. This bill only applies to private insurance. It won’t impact Medicare, Medicaid, PEIA, but it’s a start.”

Hall said other new laws benefiting the industry include Senate Bill 445, that streamlines redundant EMT certification requirements.

“Some folks had to renew three out of four years,” Hall said. “Hopefully this will make it easier for everyone to get recertified and hopefully keep more certified people on the rolls in West Virginia.”

Hall said Senate Bill 602 will create cardiac emergency response plans for public schools, putting first responders in a proactive role.

“The schools will coordinate with EMS on those plans, so that we’re involved from the start,” Hall said. “Cardiac emergencies are increasingly common, particularly in football and sports like that. This just ensures that the local EMS systems are involved in a planned response to those emergencies and hopefully, save lives, particularly for our young students.”

But Hall says state funding was not approved to help maintain EMS operations and address a shortage of ambulances and equipment.

“Every state around us has some funds that go to EMS agencies for equipment, training, things like that, to help keep the doors open,” Hall said. We still don’t have that. As you’re looking across the state, I think you’re seeing more and more reports where ambulances aren’t always available to respond to an emergency.”

Another new law, House Bill 5347, provides a state funded program for EMS personnel to become certified paramedics.

911 Outages Disrupt Emergency Communications In Berkeley County

911 lines were experiencing a temporary outage in Berkeley County, W.Va., leaving residents unable to contact county-level emergency services.

Updated on Wednesday, Feb. 7, 2024 at 12 p.m.

Emergency 911 lines in Berkeley County temporarily went down Wednesday morning, leaving residents unable to contact county emergency services.

The first alert was issued at 11:10 a.m. via Berkeley County’s text message alert system.

News of the outage was then shared on various county social media pages, including the official Facebook page of the Berkeley County Sheriff’s Department.

For less than an hour, residents were unable to use county emergency lines or non-emergency lines linked to the Berkeley County Department of Emergency Communications.

“[Emergency officials] are working to resolve this issue,” stated the post on Facebook prior to the restoration. “Please contact your local fire, police, or EMS in the event of an emergency. We will update as soon as the lines are back up. Law enforcement can be reached at the following numbers: Berkeley County Sheriff’s Dept. 304-267-7000, Martinsburg City Police 304-264-2100 [and] West Virginia State Police 304-267-0000.”

In November, similar outages in other West Virginia counties left residents unable to contact emergency services for up to 10 hours cumulatively.

Legalizing Drug Test Strips And Tackling EMS Needs On This West Virginia Morning

On this West Virginia Morning, a bill to legalize drug test strips passed both chambers last week. Emily Rice has more.

On this West Virginia Morning, a bill to legalize drug test strips passed both chambers last week. Emily Rice has more.

Also, in this show, much of the state, especially in rural areas, is covered by volunteer firefighters. But those departments need money for equipment that can’t be raised with bake sales. Chris Hall, the executive director of the West Virginia EMS Coalition, and Del. Clay Riley, the vice chair of the House Fire and EMS Committee, spoke with Randy Yohe about funding issues.

Here’s an excerpt from that conversation, as heard on The Legislature Today.

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Funding And Staffing W.Va. Fire And EMS

On this episode of The Legislature Today, an ongoing discussion in the legislature is how to staff and fund fire and EMS services around the state. Randy Yohe has been following this issue and sat down with Chris Hall, the executive director of the West Virginia EMS Coalition, and Del. Clay Riley, R-Harrison, the vice chair of the House Fire and EMS Committee.

On this episode of The Legislature Today, we’re now a third of the way through the 60-day state legislative session. In the coming weeks, deadlines on what bills can be introduced and how they will be considered are coming quickly.

In the House, a bill passed that deals with the physician shortage in West Virginia and discusses ways to expand medical services rendered to the public.

In the Senate, the chamber approved five bills unanimously and sent them to the House. One of the bills could open more recreational trails in West Virginia. Briana Heaney has more.

Also, a piece of legislation introduced last Friday, aims to define sex-based terms used in state law. Emily Rice has the story.

And, West Virginia is not really known as an agriculture state, but you might be surprised at the variety and diversity of farming that goes on here. Bob Brunner brings us a look at Farm Bureau Day at the Capitol.

Finally, an ongoing discussion in the legislature is how to staff and fund fire and EMS services around the state. Randy Yohe has been following this issue and sat down with Chris Hall, the executive director of the West Virginia EMS Coalition, and Del. Clay Riley, R-Harrison, the vice chair of the House Fire and EMS Committee.

Having trouble viewing the video below? Click the here to watch it on YouTube.

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W.VA. Lawmakers Learn of Challenges Facing EMS Squads

The disappearance of federal grants, decreases in volunteerism and the soaring cost of medical equipment have many EMS squads vastly under supported.

Ambulance response times can be 50 minutes or more. That’s what Chris Hall, executive director of the West Virginia EMS Coalition told the Committee on Volunteer Fire Departments and Emergency Medical Services in a Sunday interim meeting.

“There’s maybe a case where the heart attack comes in, and we’re having response times that may take an hour or more to respond because there’s not an ambulance available in that person’s county,” Hall said.

Hall said the disappearance of federal grants, decreases in volunteerism and the soaring cost of medical equipment have many EMS squads vastly under supported. He said the cost of ambulances for example have gone up 20 percent, and a stretcher now costs $35,000.

“To purchase, equip, and put all the medical required medical supplies on an ambulance is running from $300,000 to $500,000,” Hall said.

Hall made the point to lawmakers that EMS squads only get paid when they transport a patent, not just for going to the call and rendering aid.

“There’s about 30 percent of the transporting EMS agencies in West Virginia that transport one patient or less per day,” Hall said. “When you’re talking about those kinds of fixed capital cost, there’s no way to recover that based solely on the reimbursement of transporting one patient a day.”

Hall said West Virginia is the only state in our region that doesn’t provide any state support for EMS.

“You see other streams of funding used in other states, such as vehicle licensing fees going to EMS and driver’s license fees,” Hall said. “Pennsylvania sends a portion of their version of the coal severance tax back down to EMS and fire.”

Hall suggested the state set up a graduated grant program to fill the need of about 250 new ambulances.

“We think maybe potentially the state could come in and do 50 a year,” Hall said. “You do that over a five-year period, and every county gets the minimum number of ambulances that they need.”

Hall suggested EMS agencies get access to state purchasing and that cost reforms were needed in EMS licensing and certification. He suggested that the state increase wages and ramp up its first responder mental health initiatives.

“We need a centralized database of resources available for mental health out there,” Hall said. “There’s a number of virtual programs that would cover all EMS personnel in the state for about $600,000 a year. And we’d like to see funding presented to the Office of EMS to employ a full-time mental health coordinator.”

Committee co-chair Del. Joe Statler, R-Monongalia, said he was a sponsor of three bills now in the drafting stage to address some of the EMS needs.

911 Outages Left 13 Percent Of W.Va. Residents Without Emergency Services For Up To 10 Hours

An agency tasked with operating West Virginia’s 911 centers has filed a complaint against Frontier West Virginia Inc.

On Wednesday, the E911 Council, the umbrella agency that operates 911 centers in the state, filed a complaint against Frontier Communications with the Public Service Commission (PSC).

According to the complaint within the past 24 months, several Public Safety Answering Points (PSAPs) within the state have experienced lengthy outages of 911 service.

The most recent outage was from Nov. 28 through Nov. 30 where Brooke, Ohio, Marshall, Wetzel, Tyler, Doddridge, Ritchie, Harrison, Taylor and Mingo County residents were unable to call 911 for up to 10 hours.

The Executive Director of the E911 Council, Dean Meadows, said normally during outages calls can be rerouted, but Frontier Communications failed to reroute the calls.

“Because that plan failed, that put 235,000 residents in West Virginia without the ability to call 911,” Meadows said. “So that’s 13 percent of the population for between six to 10 hours could not call 911 in an emergency situation.”

Meadows also pointed out that the outages occurred during hazardous weather conditions in northern West Virginia, endangering those traveling on the state’s interstates.

Meadows said the E911 Council filed the complaint to prevent future outages.

“What’s happened in the past few years is 911 centers have been given a false sense of security, that there’s redundancy and diversity within their centers that if there’s a fiber cut, or vandalism to to the fiber somehow that their centers will still be covered through this redundancy, but we’re finding out, unfortunately, that’s not the case, the redundancy is not there,” Meadows said.

The PSC said it cannot comment on pending investigations.