By Cheryl Schweizer
Columbia Basin Herald
GRANT COUNTY, Wash. 鈥� Emergency medical services in Grant County Fire District 3, what they cost and their future in the Quincy area, will be the subject of a study commissioned by the fire district and its EMS partners.
鈥淲e鈥檙e in the process of selecting a firm to (conduct) the study,鈥� said GCFD 3 Chief David Durfee. 鈥淲e鈥檙e estimating it鈥檚 going to take about four months.鈥�
The fire district is working with the city of Quincy, the Port of Quincy and Columbia EMS, the private company that provides ambulance services to most of the Quincy Valley.
鈥淓verybody got on board with us. It鈥檚 been a collaborative effort,鈥� Durfee said.
鈥淲e felt like it鈥檚 time to review and make sure we鈥檙e doing the right thing in regard to payment, the type of and level of service, and maybe enhance what we have going on,鈥� Durfee said. 鈥淒efinitely the Quincy Valley is changing, Quincy is changing, our fire district is changing. It鈥檚 growing rapidly, so we felt like it was a good time to do a complete evaluation.鈥�
Columbia EMS provides emergency response and ambulance transport for most of the fire district, with Lifeline Ambulance providing services in a small section near Ephrata, Durfee said. The five GCFD 3 career staff members are all EMTs as well as firefighters, and in 2024 the district answered 572 EMS calls, compared to 123 fire calls, according to statistics on the district website. Another 417 calls were classified in the 鈥渙ther鈥� category.
The city of Quincy and GCFD 3 have contracts with Columbia EMS for ambulance services. With multiple agencies and contracts, Durfee said GCFD 3 officials want to make sure all the parts fit together.
鈥淭he study is going to assess the current system, strengths and areas for improvement. What鈥檚 nice is that it鈥檚 going to be data-driven and from a third party. After (it鈥檚 completed) we can evaluate where we want to move forward. Maybe we鈥檙e doing the right thing and we need to enhance what we have going, or we need to think about changing operations. We just don鈥檛 know. It鈥檚 a proactive measure to hopefully set the pace for long-term growth and sustainability,鈥� Durfee said.
Wayne Walker, CEO for Lifeline, said a periodic review is something the ambulance company does regularly, given the challenges that come with providing EMS services to more sparsely populated areas.
鈥淭he thing it鈥檚 safe to say is, it can be a daunting challenge to provide EMS to small rural districts,鈥� Walker said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 what鈥檚 I call the coat of readiness.鈥�
Emergencies happen when they happen, and responding agencies must have the crew ready even if they get very few calls for service over the course of a day. Walker said that makes staffing very expensive.
Durfee said the study will look at possible duplication of services.
鈥淎s a fire district, we鈥檝e been providing EMS and that鈥檚 80% of our calls,鈥� Durfee said. 鈥淪o that鈥檚 part of the study.鈥�
But Lane Ribail, chief of staff for Columbia EMS, said he doesn鈥檛 think there鈥檚 much overlap 鈥� all EMS agencies are busy.
鈥淲e all struggle just to try to keep up,鈥� Ribail said.
鈥淲e can see what our neighbors do, and how they make that work,鈥� Durfee said. 鈥淭here鈥檚 stuff that鈥檚 kind of dictated by the state that makes you run the way we run, RCWs that (require) us to provide EMS, (so) we鈥檙e taking care of our taxpayers.鈥�
Quincy and GCFD 3 each have contracts with Columbia EMS, and Durfee said evaluating the contracts will be part of the study. So will an evaluation of what it actually costs to provide the service.
鈥淚t鈥檚 going to evaluate the cost of EMS services in relation to surrounding areas and what is being provided and the service level around us,鈥� Durfee said. 鈥淢aking sure we鈥檙e not overpaying for the service or underpaying.鈥�
Durfee said the consultant will review reimbursement models.
"(The report) will take a look at reimbursement programs that the state has and make sure that we鈥檙e taking advantage of all (revenue opportunities), make sure that we鈥檙e saving money and we鈥檙e doing what鈥檚 best for the taxpayers,鈥� he said.
鈥淪ustain the service, provide the service that鈥檚 required by the community and ultimately, the best for the taxpayer鈥檚 money,鈥� Durfee added. 鈥淗ow do you put all three of those together and work with the city to provide that service? Because what the city does has a huge impact on us and vice versa, what we choose to do has a huge impact on the city. Because the call volume is not there. We鈥檙e averaging about 1,000 calls, 1,200 calls a year, and that鈥檚 for fire and EMS. We鈥檙e just not that big a department.鈥�
Durfee said none of the partners knew what the consultants鈥� conclusions would be.
鈥淚鈥檓 interested to see what this report says,鈥� Durfee said. 鈥淭hey could say, 鈥榊ou鈥檙e doing great, this is what it should be. Here鈥檚 a five-year plan, or a 10-year (plan),鈥� and we鈥檒l go after it. Or it could be totally in left field, and say, 鈥榊ou guys need to do this.鈥� So we鈥檙e just kind of all anxious (for) that report.鈥�
漏 2025 the Columbia Basin Herald, Wash.
Visit .
Distributed by