Snohomish seeks 4 paramedics

SNOHOMISH – Fire District 4 in Snohomish and its surrounding area has never asked voters to pass a levy specifically to help pay for ambulance and paramedic services – until now.

While many other communities in Snohomish County have been voting on such emergency services levies for years, Fire Chief Robert Merritt said Wednesday that District 4 “tried to be as efficient as we could for as long as we could.”

However, costs are skyrocketing, he said, so District 4 will ask voters in Tuesday’s primary election to approve a levy that would cost taxpayers 50 cents per $1,000 of property value.

On a $250,000 home the tax would be $125 a year. Taxpayers have been paying 22 cents per $1,000, or $55 annually.

Merritt explained that the increase is needed because they haven’t seen a tax increase since 1992.

“We used fire protection money in the past” to pay for emergency medical services, Merritt said, adding 70 percent of the district’s 3,500 calls this year will be for ambulance and paramedic services.

The fire chief said if the measure doesn’t pass, the district probably would have to close one of its four stations and possibly make other cuts.

If the measure passes, the district would hire four paramedics and put them in outlying stations. That is important, Merritt said, because the district covers 80 square miles so the waiting time for a paramedic can be long.

Merritt said District 4 contracts with other districts for paramedic services, and that is getting expensive. So it’s time to get a paramedic service of its own, so paramedics can double as firefighters.

“Personnel costs are out of this world,” he said of health care and other benefits. Other costs also are up, he said, mentioning equipment, training and dispatch costs.

Also, new health care standards are putting more demands on the district; for instance, patients with more types of injuries are required to be seen by paramedics.

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