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Bannock County AMOS chief reports rising ambulance demand, spike north of Pocatello and fall‑related calls
Summary
Ryan O'Hearn told commissioners EMS call volume has risen roughly 35% over the last decade, is growing faster north of Pocatello, and that falls account for about 15% of calls. He outlined staffing, volunteer and data‑reporting changes.
Ryan O'Hearn, director for Bannock County AMOS and Pocatello Fire presenter, briefed the Board of Commissioners on countywide emergency medical services volume and operational strains.
O'Hearn said call volume across Bannock County has increased about 35% over the past 10 years and typically rises 3%–5% annually. He said the northern part of the county, including Chubbuck and areas north of Pocatello, has driven the growth; he estimated roughly a 37% increase in that area. O'Hearn identified falls as the single largest call type, accounting for about 15% of calls.
Countywide averages, he said, are about 22 calls per day, with more than half of days seeing concurrent calls and about 30% of days seeing three or more simultaneous incidents. He said three advanced life support ambulances are stationed in the north and that the system relies on four staffed reserve ambulances in the city during high demand.
O'Hearn presented a South County breakout showing South County accounts for about 6% of call volume (roughly one to two calls per day) and that the Lava/McCammon zone is busiest in that region, with a summer spike tied to tourism. He said volunteer staffing variability in South County causes occasional out‑of‑service time that lengthens response times as units must come from other zones.
To address demand and improve data, O'Hearn said AMOS is moving to a unified patient care reporting system under a single sign‑on with a target to go live at the start of the next fiscal year in October. He also described employee‑health efforts, including an upcoming class on sleep and fatigue management, and said the agency is considering a peak‑hours ambulance and evaluating community paramedicine partnerships to reduce 911 calls.
Commissioners asked about construction on Interstate 15 and whether it is increasing calls; O'Hearn said crashes on the Flying Y construction corridor have driven some incidents but that the pattern generally follows the county’s transportation corridors. Commissioners and staff discussed assisted living facilities; O'Hearn and others said an earlier community risk reduction campaign reduced assisted living‑related call volume from roughly 11.5% of calls down to about 3.5% in previous years, though assisted‑living growth remains a driver of demand.
Ending: O'Hearn said better data, targeted peak‑hour resources and community partnerships could help reduce overlapping calls and improve response times, and he offered to return with demographic and more granular analyses in a future update.
