Carlton ambulance looks at full-timers

While still awaiting final city council approval, the city of Carlton’s volunteer ambulance service looks like it will add its first two full-time positions beginning in 2024.

That was the consensus Wednesday of an advisory committee featuring representatives from six of the 10 municipalities served under Carlton’s state ambulance license.

“This is a big step for Carlton ambulance,” Mark Jones said, “to have a group like this come together not only to discuss financial matters of the service, but also for you to be able to take information back to the people you represent.”

Jones is the CEO of OakPoint Inc., based in Warren, Minnesota. He conducted an analysis of the Carlton ambulance earlier this year, reporting that call volumes were increasing to a point that would exceed the capacity of a volunteer service.

Carlton fire and ambulance has made 580 calls to date in 2023, officials reported, on pace to exceed last year’s record volume of 917 calls. Eighty-five percent of those calls are ambulance-related. In order to sustain its level of service, Jones and the city of Carlton had recommended adding two full-timers to the service — a full-time manager and full-time emergency medical technician.

“Staffing (is) key to the service becoming extremely reliable,” Jones said. “The staffing was, and currently, relies a lot on people giving their time and making time to work for Carlton ambulance. Day shifts are difficult.”

The two full-time staffers would work weekday shifts, allowing volunteers from a pool of about 55 people to fill in evenings, nights and weekends — easier shifts to fill for people who are dedicated to schooling or full-time jobs.

Adding full-time manager and EMT positions requires adding $250,000 to the half-million dollar budget, Carlton officials said, and most municipalities have agreed to increase their contributions to the service.

Only the city of Wrenshall, Wrenshall Township and Black Bear Casino Resort have yet to commit to contributions.

Others have committed to $219,232 for 2024, and are as follows:

• City of Carlton, $54,023.

• Atkinson Township $5,228 (partial of $9,216 requested).

• Blackhoof Township $17,096.

• Mahtowa Township $5,001.

• Silver Brook Township $30,795.

• Thomson Township $19,782.

• Twin Lakes Township $76,395.

• Sawyer Township $10,909.

Key details remain, including the length of a contract that would ensure municipalities contribute to the costs going into the future, a cap on annual funding requested of municipalities, and the formula used to determine a municipality’s contribution.

Currently, the formula is several years old and rates are based on the number of calls to a municipality and its tax capacity.

Bob Baker, representing Blackhoof, wondered about the formula.

“In my mind, the value of my home shouldn’t make a difference in my ambulance bill,” Baker said.

The advisory committee members also agreed that should a municipality fail to contribute, those costs shouldn’t be passed along to other member municipalities. Carlton fire chief Derek Wolf said any gaps in municipalities’ funding would be made up by ambulance service revenues. The ambulance service is scheduled to have a $719,200 budget in 2024, with most revenues made through bills for service. Bills to insurance, Medicare and Medicaid are often only partially reimbursed by those agencies, however.

Wolf said all details remained on the table, and the committee members agreed to meet again monthly until the finer points of a contract were agreed upon.

In the meantime, the city of Carlton was working on a job description for the ambulance manager, who would not only schedule volunteers and serve on the ambulance during weekdays, but also be responsible for obtaining grants and bolstering the service as a whole.

“That person will have a lot of responsibility for the future of the service,” Jones said.

Once the job description is approved, a national search will commence, with advisory committee members agreeing that a salary in the neighborhood of $70,000 would be in order, along with the city of Carlton’s health benefits, health savings account, and a public employee retirement plan.

Initially, the idea of a $50,000 to 60,000 salary was floated.

“It would make the search a lot easier,” Silver Brook Township board chair Duane Laveau said of having a more competitive wage.

It’s expected an ambulance manager would be on board by early next year, before adding a full-time EMT by next summer.

The advisory committee agreed to meet again at 10 a.m. Sept. 20 at the Carlton firehall. Carlton City Council meets at 6 p.m. Sept. 13 with approval of the ambulance manager’s job description expected to be part of its agenda.