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Bonner County EMS defends staffing model, details call volume and clinical saves
Summary
EMS leaders presented operational statistics, explained why the current 48/96 shift model remains financially preferable to a 48/144 or 12-hour model, described call volumes and two recent critical interventions by paramedics, and urged support for part-time pool expansion.
Bonner County EMS leaders on the ambulance district board described why the service—ontinues to staff 24/7 advanced life-support (ALS) units and defended the current 48-on/96-off (48/96) shift model as the best balance of cost, staffing and patient care.
Eric Wright and clinical leaders presented three years of expense and revenue exports and used them to test alternative shift models. Wright said converting the district from its 48/96 rotation to a four-shift (48/144 or 12-hour) model would require hiring more staff and increasing base pay. He summarized the analysis by saying the proposed shift change "would not be a good buy for the county," adding that simulations showed the county—ost per man-hour would rise while many individuals would see reduced yearly pay without benefits.
Deputy Chief Alan Brinkmeyer and Clinical Captain Dan Umland reviewed operational capacity: the district listed 34 full-time staff (including 20 paramedics and 12 part-time staff), a fleet of six ambulances plus three intercept vehicles, and mutual-aid partner arrangements with Clark Fork, Priest Lake and local fire districts. The district responded to approximately 4,894 calls in 2024, with about 2,842 transports; average calls per day were 13.1 and average transports per day 7.79. EMS recorded 1,500 ALS-level medicals and 211 ALS-level traumas in 2024.
On system status and long transports, Umland noted interfacility transfers to Kootenai Health and Spokane add significant out-of-service timeone-way drives can be 44 miles (about 2.5 hours) to Kootenai and longer to Spokane, which reduces available ambulances in-county for several hours per transfer. The district also uses intercept vehicles (paramedic chase units) to send a paramedic to a patient while preserving transport ambulances in-county.
Clinical leadership offered two recent case studies that underscore the value of paramedic-level care in this rural county. Captain Umland described two burn-airway emergencies and one rural cardiac-arrest case in which paramedics performed advanced airway management and drug therapies in the field. Dr. Ron Jenkins, the district—linical medical director, praised staff and said, "I've had the pleasure to be medical director for over 10 years now...this group of people is very capable of making this work financially and continuing excellent service for this county." Umland and colleagues credited equipment such as the mechanical CPR (LUCAS) device with improved out-of-hospital cardiac-arrest return-of-spontaneous-circulation rates.
Staffing and hiring constraints were a repeated theme. Chief Lindsey and staffing leads said county HR rules limit how many part-time positions the district may create, and PERSI rules force a 30-day termination after a part-time employee reaches 4 months and 29 days of continuous service, preventing year-round, flexible part-time coverage. Leaders argued an expanded part-time paramedic pool would reduce unscheduled overtime and save payroll costs because part-timers do not receive full benefits.
Why it matters: Bonner County—overs a large, largely rural area where long transport times and remote rescues are common; paramedic-level care in-county shortens the time to advanced therapy and can be decisive in trauma, stroke and cardiac-arrest outcomes.
What to watch next: EMS plans to pursue policy options to increase its part-time pool (working with county HR and the commissioners) and to refine the district—ee schedule and billing practices to better reflect rural transport costs and partner-agency cost recovery.
