Future of Carbon County Emergency Medical Services in Voters' Hands

Press Release from Carbon County EMS

For the past few years, Emergency Medical Services (EMS) agencies in Carbon County have been struggling to provide ambulance response. Last year alone a resident called 911 for an ambulance 33 times and the local agency did not have the ability to respond. The ambulances that did respond were from neighboring communities and took up to an hour or more to arrive on scene. Preventing the collapse of these volunteer services is why the organizations are asking voters to support an 18 Mill Levy level on the June 4th’s primary election.

In Montana there is no statewide requirement for local governments to provide EMS response. Most Montana communities rely on volunteers to provide this critical service and funding mechanisms for operations vary by community. In Carbon County, Clarks Fork Valley and Joliet EMS (both fully volunteer, non-profit organizations) are struggling to provide reliable ambulance services to their communities and receive little financial support outside of billing.

This issue is not unique, ambulance services throughout Montana are struggling. In the neighboring community of Laurel, voters recently passed a 50 mill levy to fund their local ambulance service after they failed to respond to 177 emergency 911 calls in a year because of inadequate staffing.

"EMS in Carbon County is like a three-legged stool. We rely on each other," said Roger Steffan, a 30+ year volunteer with Clarks Fork Valley EMS. “We may have one really solid leg, but if one of those other legs falls, the whole thing is going to collapse."

While Red Lodge Fire Rescue has had a strong EMS system, their service faces financial challenges as well. Red Lodge has had funding for EMS services since 2010 through the formation of an ambulance district and has served as an example of what secure funding can accomplish for an EMS agency. However, the fee has not changed in the 14 years since it was approved while the cost of providing care has more than doubled in that time. Without this levy, Red Lodge Fire Rescue will be forced to cut services and may not be able to help its neighboring EMS agencies when they are unable to respond.

If this ballot initiative passes the Carbon County EMS agencies will be able to improve operations. This includes recruiting, training and retaining volunteers and staff, maintaining and updating equipment and providing the response and care that the community expects.

Ultimately voters will get to decide whether an ambulance shows up when they dial 911. You can find more information at carboncountymtems.org