Opinion: Municipalities must act quickly to save Port Matilda EMS
On Nov. 21, 2022, the Port Matilda Emergency Medical Service (PMEMS) announced that it will be closing its doors. This impending death is due to years of municipalities’ refusals to adequately fund the service.
The EMS is the ambulance staffed with trained people who provide medical care until they can get you to a hospital. With one phone call — 911 — an ambulance will arrive as fast as it can to render assistance and often save people’s lives.
The Port Matilda EMS has been calling for help for years. The local officials have ignored them or only raised the amount they give them incrementally. Each year, PMEMS holds a membership drive charging $75 for a family membership. They only get a 20% return — $78,000. Many people think buying a membership is a nice donation; they don’t realize it is an essential part of the EMS income.
In addition, the skilled EMS staff at PMEMS are paid the lowest salary of all the EMS services in the region. They earn $11/hour and get no benefits. All other services pay for benefits for their staff, and they pay higher hourly rates, going up to $17.97/hour. Many trained dedicated EMS workers have made the difficult decision to quit in order to find better paying jobs to support their families.
The Port Matilda EMS serves the Port Matilda Borough, Halfmoon, Huston, Taylor and Worth townships and the western part of Ferguson township. None of the municipalities are paying enough to keep the PMEMS alive. The amounts they collect in taxes that go to the EMS are shockingly low. The municipalities give them $44,000 per year from taxes they collect. Yet, the cost to run the Port Matilda EMS is $263,426. Halfmoon Township pays $4.43 per person; Huston Township pays $7.12 per person; Taylor Township pays $2.77 per person; Worth pays $8.11 per person; and the Port Matilda Borough pays $8.75 per person.
Who is responsible for ensuring this critical community service?
These five municipalities are second-class townships that by 1933 state law (Second Class Township Code, Section 1553) are required to provide emergency services. They “shall be responsible for ensuring that fire and emergency medical services are provided within the township by the means and to the extent determined by the township, including the appropriate financial and administrative assistance for these services.”
However, the supervisors simply will not take responsibility. I’ve attended meetings to urge them to better support the PMEMS. They sit in silence, or they point fingers and blame. From officials I’ve heard these excuses: “No one wants to work.” “They need to get volunteers.” “They have other jobs.” “They never told us they were in trouble.” “There’s nothing we can do.” Another popular theme is: “They need to get more memberships.” “People need to write checks.”
The EMS staff are offended when they are accused of “not wanting to work.” They say they are professionals dedicated to helping people in their community, but they can’t live on $11/hour with no benefits. And the days of emergency services relying on volunteers and contributions from the public are gone.
Other EMS agencies throughout the state are facing similar crises and say they too will close unless they receive more financial support from the municipalities they serve. If the supervisors allow the local EMS ambulance service to close, they are legally required to find another service. Another EMS, if it is available, will have to travel a longer distance to reach the caller, and which will, no doubt, cost a lot more than supporting the service they already have.
The deadline for PMEMS to close is the end of this month. The municipalities must act ... and quickly.