November 14, 2008


Dear Friends and Neighbors,

This letter is addressed to businesses and organizations, large and small throughout the North Fork Valley. Since 1969 the NFAA has provided ambulance service as a non-taxing, non-profit, all-volunteer organization. At the current time, the number of EMS (Emergency Medical Services) volunteers are at critically low levels. Neither a private ambulance service, nor one funded by tax revenue is viable to provide the level of service the NFAA provides today due to the high cost of paid crews, versus the now all-volunteer staff. We need your help to find volunteers to continue this vital service.

How can you and your business or organization help?

Become a EMT, or encourage your employees to consider doing so. If it’s not right for you, talk to someone you know who might consider becoming an EMT if asked. There will be an EMT Class starting this winter and NOW is the time to apply. Financial assistance is available for EMT training. To apply, please call the business office at 872-4303 to request an application.

If your business/organization structure would allow it, please consider letting your NFAA EMTs and Drivers sign up for two shifts each month while at work. This is a golden opportunity to help fill the on-call schedule so that EMTs and Drivers are in place when an emergency call comes in.

Membership! Enclosed is a current Membership form. If you are already a Member, we say “thank you”, and ask that you please pass the form on to someone new in the valley. Encourage your employees to take advantage of the savings on a Family Membership through your Business Membership.

We are looking for a number of dedicated people to join our staff, and we need dedicated employers to back these people up. The communities of Hotchkiss and Crawford especially are in dire need of EMTs and Drivers in order to continue quality ambulance service. Please talk to your staff, friends, family and neighbors to encourage them to get involved.  For more information, visit our website and read the recent press on EMS in the North Fork Valley.

People helping people. That is what is needed to continue providing quality ambulance service to our communities at a very low cost.

Sincerely,

The Board of Directors

The Board of the NFAA has been taking a hard look at the future of EMS in the North Fork valley. If the NFAA does not acquire more volunteers willing to become Drivers and EMTs, this service may cease to exist as we know it. The cost of ambulance service could go up dramatically, while service would plummet.

The “community built” and fiscally sound Association’s weak point is volunteers. Considering this lack of volunteers, the possibility of a paid service has been explored. To cover all three communities 24/7 with the service equal to what the NFAA provides today, estimated wages alone would be around $900,000. This would be unattainable with the current membership-based income. With a tax district mill levy equal to the average Fire Dept in the North Fork valley (3.84), income would fall short by $500,000 per year. To fund the total amount needed, the mill levy would have to be more than double, around 8.35; an unrealistic prospect with voters. Other answers to the $500,000 deficit would be to cut service by two communities, creating one central base with two 24-hr paid crews. This would result in diminished patient care and long response times considering in 2007 the NFAA responded to 729 EMS calls, 409 in the Paonia area, 221 in the Hotchkiss area and 99 in the Crawford area.

A bit of comparison with the Delta County Ambulance District, serving Delta and Cedaredge, helps bring things into perspective also. DCAD staffs and runs only one more ambulance than the NFAA, making costs comparable. Their mill levy in 2007 was 2.5, on almost double the Assessed Valuation of properties as in the North Fork Valley, provides part of their income, while the remainder is generated from their 2,900 EMS calls per year. With only 750 North Fork runs per year and close to the same costs as DCAD, forming a North Fork Ambulance tax district makes no sense. Based on costs and possible income from EMS calls, a private ambulance service would not be attracted to pick up the North Fork either.

Currently the NFAA provides coverage 24/7 in all three communities by staffing the ambulances with volunteer crews. The number of volunteers in Paonia is around 30 at this time, but only half of those are active on the service. The number of volunteers in Hotchkiss and Crawford are at critical levels. Each month there are 60 twelve-hour shifts to be covered in each community. Five people cover the majority of shifts in Hotchkiss, while Crawford is currently covered by four.

If you have ever considered volunteering for your community, now is the time! Please talk to your friends, family and neighbors about this and encourage those who could, to step up to the plate. There will be an EMT Class starting this winter and now is the time to apply. Financial assistance is available for EMT training. To apply, please call the business office at 872-4303 to request an application. The NFAA is providing a quality EMS service to our communities today at a very low cost. All that is needed to keep this ambulance service are people who are willing to help other people. Any way you look at it, if more local folks do not to step up to become EMTs and Drivers, the North Fork Valley will soon be in an EMS crisis with some very unattractive options.