During the last Edmonds City Council meeting, South County Fire, or RFA (Regional Fire Authority), presented an annual report to the City.
As we prepare for the upcoming ballot initiative to annex into the RFA, it is important that citizens read the actual reports and review the facts regarding our fire and EMS services.
I was somewhat surprised to hear several folks at the Council meeting suggest that Edmonds should only pay for the cost of the services received, like paying for a haircut.
Paying for fire and EMS services based on the cost per call might seem plausible at first, but a usage-based approach presents several major challenges. I mean, no person or government I know of has yet been able to schedule an emergency.
Emergencies are, by definition, unpredictable. The number and severity of emergencies fluctuate daily and certainly annually. A city may have a low call volume one month and a surge the next due to natural disasters, accidents, or medical crises.
Thus, emergency services are, by default, readiness-based. Firefighters and EMS providers don’t just respond to calls – they have to be ready 24/7 to handle emergencies at any moment.
Emergency response requires full staffing, equipment, and station readiness whether or not a call happens. Funding needs to cover preparedness, not just response.
If we rely on the firefighters and EMS within the RFA or neighboring cities to provide all of our readiness but refuse to pay for anything but the cost of the individual call, then we are asking our neighboring cities to pay for us. Plain and simple.
It is also actually against state law for one city to pay less than another to the same entity for the same services. The proposition that we could or should pay less than any other city in the RFA means we either want to ration the services available to Edmonds or we want something for nothing.
Firefighters and EMS service providers are people with jobs. As we have seen from staffing shortages at hospitals and with the unpredictability of private ambulance services, let alone understaffed police departments, emergency response requires consistent funding and training to ensure immediate, effective response in an emergency.
There is a reason why private companies do not perform the functions of government, especially when it comes to responding to emergency situations – it’s expensive, and you can’t just cut costs without taking into account the impact on a person’s life or home.
Discussing the facts about the RFA is important. Research is critical, but suggesting methods that would put people and property at risk or presenting back-of-the-napkin calculations need to be stated as such.
Cities fund emergency services through consistent, predictable revenue sources and not risky, but cheaper, options, to meet the city’s responsibility to ensure the well-being, safety, and quality of life for Edmonds residents.
Let’s make sure Edmonds continues to have the reliable fire and EMS services we all depend on and vote YES on the RFA.
Maria Montalvo
Edmonds
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