VERNON TOWNSHIP — In about a year, the township has gone from outsourcing its emergency medical services to exceeding expectations of its newly formed in-house operation.
It has built the service, added equipment and billed more in ambulance fees than anticipated despite reducing rates, all as the community it serves continues to grow.
Vernon Township discontinued its EMS contract with Priority Ambulance Service, buyer of longtime provider Seals Ambulance, on Jan. 1, 2020. The township had been paying Priority $300,000 a year.
But Florence May, Vernon Township trustee, had inherited an underwater township EMS fund after taking office in January 2019.
“This was a little bit of a gamble, but the bottom line was we do not have enough money in our bank account to make the payments to Priority,” May said. “We really don’t have a choice other than to do this.”
Under the leadership of EMS Chief Kiely Culberson, the township built an in-house ambulance service with the new Vernon Township Fire Department operating out of the new Fortville fire station that was finished in 2019.
Through January 2021, the township has billed $321,590 in total EMS fees. Township officials were anticipating $200,000 after reducing EMS rates and anticipating not being fully operational until June 2020.
“When COVID hit in March, we saw a substantial decline in the number of people going to the hospital,” May added. “They wanted to be treated at home. So it decreased the amount of money being brought in; however, on the flip side of that, our number of runs increased.”
The Vernon Township Board voted to reduce EMS rates, which were the highest in the area, for the new EMS service to be comparable with the rest of Hancock County. The fire department hired paramedics and received an advanced life support designation. The township got a new ambulance and an emergency medical technician training grant of almost $5,000 in 2020 as well.
The year also brought 10% growth in McCordsville and 90 new homes in Fortville and the township fire department surpassed 1,200 runs for the first time in the midst of the pandemic.
The results were why they township nominated Culberson for the State of Indiana EMS Directors Award that she received in December 2020.
Culberson credited the service’s success to several factors and said its future continues to look bright. She said the township currently has an EMT course running with 24 students, several of whom came on board after taking firefighter courses last year.
“They are eager to learn and push forward,” she told the Daily Reporter in an email.
CPR training was offered to several outside groups, she continued, resulting in the training of 75 individuals. Grant funds allowed the fire department to get new American Heart Association-approved CPR manikins.
“Having the ability to train outside individuals will most definitely help the survival rate of out-of-hospital cardiac arrest,” Culberson said.
Support from township leadership and the community, especially during the pandemic, has been encouraging as well, she said.
“Each of these aspects make us more successful each day,” she said.
