Stevens County Fire Chief Seeks To Gain More Ambulance Support

A patchwork of ambulance ser- vice options can leave some Stevens County residents hours away from an ambulance when they need one, leading Fire Chief Mike Bucy of Stevens County Fire District 1 to seek support for a county-wide Emergency Medical Services (EMS) plan that would add paramedics, Emergency Medical Technicians (EMTs), and ambulances to areas that are underserved. Ambulance services have been a topic of discussion since 2020, Bucy said, but nothing has been done. He said there are ambulances available in population centers such as Chewelah, Loon Lake, Colville, and Suncrest. All are located on the east side of Stevens County near the U.S Highway 395 corridor. “There’s no ambulances on the west side,” he said. That leaves residents of the west side of the county waiting 90 minutes or more for an ambulance to arrive, Bucy said. That time can be critical if a patient is having a heart attack or stroke, he added. “Where you live shouldn’t determine if you live or die,” he said.

“A paramedic can help them.” In some cases, using Life Flight is an option, but helicopters aren’t always available or could be grounded due to weather or a mechanical issue, Bucy said. There are four entities in Stevens County that provide ambulance services. The southeast corner of the county is served by Deer Park Ambulance, a nonprofit, mostly volunteer organization that includes paramedics and can provide advanced life support (ALS) services. Chewelah Rural Ambulance, also a nonprofit, serves portions of central and southwest Stevens County. The organization utilizes volunteers and has only EMTs, limiting them to basic life support care. Fire District 7 in the Arden area has a private ambulance service also utilizing volunteers and also offering only basic life support. The service is funded by an EMS levy.

The Stevens County Sheriff ’s Office operates an ambulance service that serves the northern third of the county. While Stevens County Fire District 1 responds to medical calls along with the various ambulance crews, not all fire districts in the county do, Bucy said. Some used to, but couldn’t attract trained volunteers and couldn’t fund the necessary training. “That’s not unusual,” Bucy said. “It’s expensive to put on an EMT class.” Bucy said his district also has an EMS levy and responds to medical calls with EMTs and advanced EMTs. “My fire district, we’re going to have a record number of calls this year,” he said. “It’s not enough.” Part of the issue is funding for the nonprofits and the Sheriff ’s Ambulance Service. They keep the doors open primarily through patient fees, Bucy said. “That’s not super sustainable,” he said.

Bucy said that the county, based on population and geographic distribution, should have nine ambulances on duty at all times. He proposes having one ALS unit each in Chewelah, Loon Lake, and Suncrest, plus two ALS ambulances in Colville. The rest of the proposal would be to add ambulances in Northport, Kettle Falls, Gifford, and Hunters. The ambulances in Northport and Kettle Falls should be ALS units because of long transport times and ALS is preferred in Hunters for the same reason, Bucy said. The new ambulance system would need to purchase or lease buildings in those areas. The plan would require 24 paramedics and 24 EMTs or advanced EMTs to ensure 24/7 coverage, Bucy said. Bucy said ideally, there are two ambulances for every 15,000 people. “It would be great to have two ambulances in each of these areas, but you have to be reasonable,” he said. There are three funding options available, Bucy said: a sales tax, a county-wide EMS levy or a levy lid lift on the county’s existing levy. The existing levy collects $1.11 per $1,000 in assessed home value but can collect up to $1.80 per $1,000 by law.

“It’s no different than a school levy or a fire levy,” Bucy said. Bucy said a sales tax makes more sense to him, partly because it would also be paid by people passing through the county. However, doing it that way probably isn’t practical right now, he said. “There’s legal obstacles right now that would take too long to overcome,” he said. A levy lid lift would be the easiest to implement quickly, Bucy said. Even then, Bucy estimates that a county-wide ambulance plan would take two years to fully implement. “We’re already deep in the hole,” he said. Bucy’s proposal, which he pushed recently in a Facebook post in an effort to generate discussion, has been endorsed by his district’s board of fire commissioners.

He presented it to the Stevens County Commissioners on July 27. Bucy said he was hoping for a workshop or some sort of discussion with the county commissioners, but nothing has happened. Bucy said Amy Anderson, director of the Spokane County Sheriff ’s Ambulance Service, recently suggested a similar plan. Bucy acknowledged that his proposal still has details that would need to be worked out. “The plan’s not super detailed,” he said. “It starts the discussion.” Stevens County Board of Commissioners Chairman Greg Young did not respond to a message seeking comment by press time.