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EMS director asks commissioners to fund equipment refresh, blood program and vehicle replacement
Summary
Emergency Services Director Eric Sellen asked commissioners to approve replacement and maintenance funding for EMS equipment and small capital items, including a proposed expansion of a Stryker leasing contract to add stretchers and monitors, new blood‑program costs, and continued vehicle and ambulance replacement.
Eric Sellen, Surry County Emergency Services director, presented the EMS and emergency management budget priorities to commissioners at the March 2025 budget session, highlighting equipment lifecycle, a growing blood‑product program and a request to expand a Stryker equipment leasing arrangement.
Sellen reviewed line‑item increases driven by inflation and service demand: tactical protective gear, maintenance for the morgue and related cleaning, cold‑storage for certain medications, personal protective equipment, and uniform and supply inflation. He described a blood program that supplied about 50 units of blood over roughly 30 events in the past year; evolving clinical guidance led the county to adopt whole blood, which Sellen said improves patient outcomes but approximately doubles unit costs. He projected blood‑program costs could be roughly $42,000 next year under projected usage.
On capital and lifecycle issues, Sellen asked the board to consider expanding the county’s Stryker equipment contract (original 2021 10‑year contract) to add 13 stretchers, three monitors previously owned outside the contract and three compression devices (Lucas). He said the vendor’s leasing model fixed the county’s per‑year payment and included maintenance; adding the stretchers and monitors would increase the annual contract payment from about $211,392 to $456,170 under the quote shown, and Sellen said projected savings over the contract life could exceed $500,000. Commissioners questioned whether leasing saved money in practice; Sellen and staff said warranty/maintenance inclusion and tech refreshes were factors in the earlier decision.
Sellen also listed ambulance and quick‑response vehicle replacement needs (older 2016–2017 models remain in use), vehicle‑maintenance savings that have improved since earlier years, and a small training budget increase to support hazmat driver training (expected to generate some revenue from hazmat fees).
Sellen said EMS revenue projections do not yet incorporate recommended ambulance charge increases under a national ground‑ambulance study and county billing vendor recommendations; the county’s billing vendor (EMSMC) advised rate updates but is paid on a percentage of collections. Sellen noted a pending federal treatment‑in‑place regulatory push that could allow billing for some on‑scene treatments when patients decline transport, which could affect revenue if enacted. Commissioners and staff discussed costs, lifecycle and whether vendor quotes and contract terms represent long‑term value.
