Ambulance calls increase

MARENGO — Ambulance calls increased 7.55% from last year, according to the Iowa County EMS annual report.

Increased revenue paved the way for purchase of a new ambulance, which is expected to arrive in September.

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Ambulance Director Adam Rabe explained the annual report to Iowa County Supervisors last week.

Iowa County ambulance responded to 1,936 calls in fiscal year 2024, Rabe said, and requested mutual aid from out-of-county ground ambulances 45 times and an air ambulance five times.

September 2023 was the busiest month of the year, with 210 ambulance responses.

Unscheduled an unplanned overtime was down significantly, to 1,279 hours, said Rabe. Iowa County Ambulance has averaged 2,200 hours a year in the last five years, he said.

During COVID, EMS had 2,600 hours of overtime.

Less turnover and staffing changes have lowered the number, Rabe said. EMS converted one full-time position into an administrative assistant/EMT and another into a training captain/paramedic.

Expenses for the fiscal year ending June 30 amounted to $2.07 million, well below the $2.3 million budgeted.

Revenue was about $300,000 more than budgeted, $1.35 million.

“Revenues were up. Expenses were down,” said Rabe. Both are going in the right direction, he said.

Iowa County EMS set aside $133,000 in fiscal year 2024 for a new ambulance. The vehicle, ordered two years ago, is expected to arrive in September. The balance of the $266,000 total cost will be paid from the 2025 fiscal budget, said Rabe.

Iowa County EMS received $11,502 in EMS System Development Grant funding, according to the annual report. The grant is specifically used for system development, preparedness and training.

The grant paid for an online training platform, tuition assistance for Iowa EMS Association Conference, CPR mannequins with feedback, soft stretchers for active shooter exercises and certified documentation specialist training.

EMS received $15,000 from the Iowa County Community Foundation Grant for new Sapphire IV pumps for all four ambulances.

Iowa County EMS has 27 people on staff, the report says: 22 paramedics and five EMTs. Sixteen are full-time and 11 are part time.

“We’re fine on staff,” said Rabe. “I’d say we’re fully staffed.”

EMS has 40 volunteer first responders throughout the county. “That’s real helpful,” said Rabe. The last time EMS had more 40 volunteers was fiscal year 2018.

Amana has eight volunteer responders; Ladora, 2; Millersburg, 7; North English, 7; Victor, 10; and Williamsburg, 6.

Rabe said Marengo has never had a first response team, possibly because the hospital and the ambulances are in town.

Volunteers in North English had a 90% response rate. Millersburg’s first responders responded 85% of the time, and Victor and Williamsburg responded to 80% of calls.

Iowa County ambulances traveled 87,265 miles in fiscal year 2024, the annual report says.

Community outreach

Iowa County EMS saw an increase in community events and hours, largely due to the 50th Annivesrary of the Register’s Annual Great Bike Ride Across Iowa during fiscal year 2024.

On the day RAGBRAI passed through Iowa County, EMS staffed two additional ambulances and manned a first-aid tent in Amana in anticipation of more than 20,000 riders.

EMS participated in a mock accident at Williamsburg High School the week of this year’s prom.

EMS spent 152 personnel hours at high school and Youth Sports Foundation football games, 92 hours at the Iowa County Fair and 67 hours with RAGBRAI.

Octoberfest required 24 personnel hours, and the Marengo and Williamsburg July 3 and 4 events had ambulance staff working a total of 32 hours.

Call volume continues to trend upward, the annual report says. About 57% of calls are for basic life support; 43% are advanced life support calls.

There’s a national campaign to have ambulances refrain from using lights and sirens when they can — for safety reasons, said Rabe.

In Iowa County, lights and sirens were used in 24% of responses in fiscal year 2024. Lights and sirens were use in only 10% of transports from the scene.

“Those are really good numbers,” Rabe said.

Most patients — 659 — were transported to Compass Memorial Healthcare; 444 were transported to University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics, and 152 to Unity Point Health St. Luke’s Hospital in Cedar Rapids.