On May 13, the Clark County EMS District 2 Board approved the District’s Annual Report that highlights how over the past 21 years the District has been providing a high performance paramedic ambulance contract for Clark County and the cities of Battle Ground, La Center, Ridgefield, and Vancouver.
As a result of these jurisdictions cooperatively working together, the community enjoys:
* A high level of clinical care;
* Some of the most stringent response time standards in the nation; and
* Low cost for ambulance service with no funding from local taxes
Mike Plymale, Chair of the EMS Administrative Board and Dr. Lynn Wittwer, Clark County’s Medical Program Director state, “we have been fortunate to have had such outstanding performance, community partnerships and citizens who’ve entrusted us to deliver quality service over the past 21 years.”
The EMS Administrative Board is composed of citizen volunteers with expertise in business, finance, law, health care administration and insurance that provide independent oversight of the District’s paramedic ambulance service contract.
The Medical Program Director is appointed by State Department of Health and is under contract with the county for oversight of training, certification and patient care provided by all EMS personnel, including the District’s paramedics and Emergency Medical Technicians (EMTs).
Since 1992, the District’s ambulance contract has implemented a number of clinical innovations. A few of innovations include: Accreditation by the National Academy of Dispatch; high cardiac arrest survival rates; and enhancements in cardiac and stroke care. The ambulance contract has also made significant contributions to the community in over $3 million for first response enhancements.
The 2013 Annual Report outlines system enhancements and performance levels that have kept the District at the forefront as a high performance EMS System. In addition, the Report also shows how the District and EMS providers are working to find new ways to combine resources and gain efficiencies as a result of dwindling public and private funds for EMS and healthcare reform efforts.
