By Glen Albright / Herald Forum
The Mukilteo Fire Department is asking voters to renew the levy for Emergency Medical Service in the Nov. 4 general election. I wanted to share why this is important to me, personally.
My parents moved to Mukilteo in 2022. That same year on my birthday, I had plans to have dinner withthem. When I arrived at their home, Dad told me that Mom wasn’t feeling well so it would just be the two of us going out for dinner.Naturally, I asked what was wrong with Mom. My mother said, “I think I’m having a heart attack. Don’t worry.”
You have to know my mom to see the humor in this. She is tough, accomplished, and very little slows her down. I understand why she thought a little “heart attack” was no big deal.
To me? It was a very big deal. I had her sit down and I called 911 immediately. Paramedics arrived and after a little coaxing, they administered medication to regulate her heart beat before they transported her to the hospital.
It’s important that I call out the word paramedics. Mukilteo’s EMS program includes both Basic and Advanced Life Support, the highest level of pre-hospital care possible for patients. Paramedics train more than 1,000 hours and are the only ones authorized to administer drugs or do other invasive procedures to save lives. Without them, Mom would not have received the intravenous medication she needed before reaching the hospital.
Seventy-eight percent of all emergency calls in Mukilteo are EMS-related. This is the most used program we offer when it comes to emergency services.
Voters approved a 50-cent per $1,000 of assessed value EMS Levy in 2010. Levy rates fall as property values increase to limit the fire department to roughly the same amount of revenue per year (plus 1 pecent). The levy rate has fallen to 27 cents per $1,000 since 2010. If approved, the ballot measure would return the EMS levy to the original 50-cent level for emergency medical services.
The takeaway from this is simple: EMS saves lives. We hope you never need it, but we want to be here if you do.
Glen Albright is the fire chief of the City of Mukilteo Fire Department.
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
