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Bannock EMS offers two staffing plans for South County and seeks $666,456 in capital funds
Summary
Bannock County EMS proposed either a full-time paramedic ambulance in McCammon for South County (about $370,000 additional) or a peak-hour staffing option (~$130,000). The department also outlined potential Medicaid cost-recovery revenue (estimated $90,000–$125,000) via a vendor and presented capital requests totaling $666,456.
Bannock County emergency medical services (EMS) leaders presented commissioners with operational and capital proposals aimed at improving ambulance coverage in South Bannock County, addressing rising call volume in North Bannock/Chubbuck, and upgrading aging equipment.
Ryan (last name not specified), speaking for the EMS district, said the county operates three advanced life support (ALS) ambulances in the Pocatello area plus reserve and basic life support ambulances in South County. He said Central Bannock (Pocatello area) accounts for roughly 75% of the system’s calls (about 8,000 annually), North Bannock about 20% (Chubbuck/North Pocatello) and South Bannock about 5% (around 600 calls per year).
To address coverage gaps in South County, EMS proposed two staffing models: a full-time 24/7 paramedic ambulance based out of McCammon that would cost about $370,000 in additional annual expenditures and require hiring six employees; or a “peak-hours” model with daytime coverage (about 40–72 hours per week) staffed by four people in rotating shifts for approximately $130,000 in additional annual cost. EMS said two-thirds of South County’s calls occur between 7 a.m. and 7 p.m., which informed the peak-hours design.
EMS staff said they plan to reallocate some money currently used for volunteer stipends and overtime to cover personnel costs in the proposed models. They also discussed an option to reassign an ambulance from Pocatello to Chubbuck and are in talks with Chubbuck Fire Chief Miller about stationing or mixed staffing arrangements; unions representing different fire departments were identified as a potential issue that would require discussion.
On revenue, EMS described a possible Medicaid emergency medical transportation cost-recovery program and plans to contract with Public Consulting Group (PCG) to prepare cost-recovery packets. EMS estimated the program could add about $90,000–$125,000 annually; PCG would take roughly a 10% fee of recovered amounts. EMS said the first submission would be due in August and look back to FY23 and FY24 activity.
Capital requests totaled $666,456 and included: rolling an ambulance purchase into FY26 ($127,456 net to carry forward), up to $35,000 for an auto-load system if grant funding does not fully cover it, a command vehicle, replacement cardiac monitors (4 monitors at about $240,000), an additional Lucas device, and two more auto-load kits.
Commissioners and EMS discussed operational tradeoffs, volunteer coverage at night, possible small fuel or operational savings from stationing units closer to demand, and the importance of improving response times in the north county where call volume has spiked. No decisions were recorded; EMS asked commissioners to consider the staffing and capital requests during budget deliberations.
