Traverse City Eagle Source | Comments courtesy of Matt Zavadsky

Let’s see.... 

Annual Cost = $755,000 - $1,548,000, plus capital.  Annual Revenue = $484,000.  Clearly this is a tough decision...  J

If they require MMR to pay for First Responder services, bet the payer would then require an EMD process that only trigger a first response unit for cases that evidence shows a first response may make a difference in the patient’s outcome.  That will certainly reduce the fire department’s response volume!

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Ambulance study shows changes could cost millions

By Jordan Travis

jtravis@record-eagle.com  

Dec 13, 2020

TRAVERSE CITY — Making Traverse City Fire Department the city’s primary emergency management services transport provider would be a costly undertaking.

Buying two new ambulances, as would be needed, would cost up to $500,000 for both, according to a study by TriData. Then, the city would need to spend $755,000 to $1,548,000 on staffing to add seven to nine employees to each shift. That doesn’t include the costs of modifying Stations 1 and 2 to accommodate the larger crews.

Charging for services would cover some of the costs, but EMS transport rarely turns a profit, according to the study. The city could anticipate $484,000 in revenues for transport each year, and up to $338,000 if it charges for EMS first responder services without transport.

That’s the findings of a study city commissioners will hear more about at their study session Monday. City Fire Chief Jim Tuller said the idea of Traverse City becoming a primary EMS transport provider goes back to the 1980s when a countywide ambulance service dissolved and Munson Healthcare took over.

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