Fire and ambulance personnel in Jefferson County have been living together and functioning together for the past two months, but Friday, July 1 the merger becomes official. "Everybody calls this a merger or a consolidation," said Fire Chief Jeff Blake. "I like to call it building a whole new organization from the ground up." What was Jefferson County Fire District No. 1 and Jefferson County Emergency Medical Services will now be Jefferson County Fire EMS. A new logo features the silhouette of Mount Jefferson with a combined image of the fire axe and fire pick, and the medical serpent wrapped around a staff. All Jefferson County Fire EMS staff will wear the same midnight navy uniform with the new logos. Both ambulance and fire rigs will get the new logos.
Jefferson County is one of the last districts in the state to operate to bring both fire and ambulance under one roof. The previous EMS board resisted the idea. The fee-for-service business model worked well for EMS. Board members said coupling with fire would cost money and ultimately raise taxes. Three people — Mike Ahern, Janet Brown and Joe Krenowicz — ran for the EMS board on a platform to merge the two agencies, and won in May of 2021. They set the gears in motion, and almost exactly a year from the day they took office, the two agencies have become one organization. Both boards will meet together, but officially will remain separate, until the election May of 2023 when voters will be asked to dissolved the EMS board.
Chief Blake accelerates the move A D V E R T I S I N G | Continue reading below
"If you want the status quo, I'm not your guy," Blake told the fire board when he interviewed for the position. "I think (merging fire and ambulance) is definitely the right way to go." Blake wasted no time. By April of this year, Blake moved to 24-hour staffing for fire personnel, a first for the district in at least 30 years, with one captain and one student ready to roll with a fire rig any hour of the day, any day of the week. EMS started 24/7 staffing in 2017.
The board spent $42,000 to remodel the living quarters allowing sleeping space for seven people. Fire and EMS now operate with shifts of 48 hours on/96 hours off. He hasn't compiled the statistics, but Blake expects the increased staffing will improve response times. Soon after paramedics moved to the fire hall, EMS administration took up offices there.
Starting sometime in July, an ambulance will stage in Culver Thursday through Sunday, 12 hours a day from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. "That's when the majority of our double and triple calls happen," said Blake, "and with the lake in the summertime, that's when most of those calls are going to happen too." Staffing another ambulance in Culver will make more units available for calls and for transfers between hospitals, which monopolize a considerable amount of the ambulance time. According to Blake, last year's numbers show Jefferson County EMS rigs spend six-and-a-half hours a day transferring patients between Madras, Redmond and Bend, an average of two transfers a day, 365 days a year. That left only one ambulance to serve a 1,500 square mile service area. Now the operation will have three ambulances available during high call periods, and administrative staff can muster to dispatch a fourth ambulance if necessary.
Pay raises and fee increases A D V E R T I S I N G | Continue reading below
"Jefferson County staff were being woefully underpaid compared to districts of similar sizes and call volumes," said Blake, "as much as $15,000 a year less." The board raised pay for both fire fighters and paramedics, raises of between 15 and 30%. Some EMS volunteers have been hired on with Fire & EMS, a part-time employees have been made full time. The board believes better pay maintains a stable work force. "Jefferson County used to be seen as a stepping stone," said Blake. "I've had three employees with job offers from other agencies and they decided to stay. Everybody that's here wants to be here." Blake believes increased pay ultimately costs less when you don't have to pay for outfitting and training new employees. EMS will also increase the fees it charges medical patients who don't buy Fire Med subscriptions, and charge people outside the area higher user fees.
One fee will go away: the $25 burn permit fee. The county will still require burn permits, so fire personnel know where and when people are burning, but Blake doesn't want to charge a fee when the district doesn't provide a service with the permit.
"My job isn't just to look at the now, but to look at the future needs of this organization," said Blake. The board wants to expand the current buildings on the five-acre campus. The current building was built in 1989. "There are between 12 and 14 people in this building every day and this building wasn't designed for that," Blake said. He's looking at expanding 3-4,000 square feet for more space to handle the growing staff. Blake would like to see a training ground and a training tower, more lodging for students of the program, and the Bureau of Land Management would like to locate on the campus. BLM will take over the now empty EMS building on Culver Highway. Eventually it would like to locate rigs and personnel in a building on the Madras Jefferson County Fire & EMS campus. Where's all the money coming from? Blake says some economies from joining the two agencies allowed for some of the changes. The board hopes to annex some properties, which will bring in more revenue. Both boards together have set aside $350,000 in reserves for the building and another $350,000 in reserves for apparatus. Blake says if they can continue to do that, they might accumulate a meaningful amount of money. The agency has applied for grants it hopes will help purchase equipment and pay for personnel. Beyond that, there looms the B word: Bond. Blake considers that a last resort. "If we do a bond it will be for something big," he said. "In my mind, that would include a training tower and training facility and have a true master plan for this area."
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