By Mike Gervais
Register Staff

1-10-2008

In an attempt to ensure that Inyo County doesn’t lose its cadre of volunteer EMTs and firefighters, local officials are working on a way to make it easier for first responders to become and stay certified.

Three local fire officials along with a representative from Inyo County Health and Human Services are lobbying the California Emer-gency Medical Services Authority for a new first-responder testing site in the Eastern Sierra.
Those four individuals got support from the Inyo County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday, when they explained that all they really want is a standardized EMT testing facility somewhere in or near Inyo County to help cut the costs incurred by local volunteers who currently have to go to the Los Angeles area to complete their EMT mandates.
Southern Inyo Fire Protection District Chief Paul Postle (also chairman of the Inyo County Emergency Medical Care Committee), Lone Pine Fire Chief Leroy Kritz, Big Pine Assistant Fire Chief Lloyd Wilson and Inyo County Health and Human Services Director Jean Dickinson were in attendance at Tuesday’s Board of Supervisors meeting in support of drafting a letter to Emergency Medical Services Authority Director Cesar A. Aristeiguieta, M.D. requesting more regional training sites for EMTs.
The Board of Supervisors showed unanimous support and agreed to sign the letter Postle drafted to the Emergency Medical Services Authority and attempt to reach local legislators and garner more support for the cause.
“The Inyo County Emergency Medical Care Committee (EMCC) values the standardization of Emergency Medical Technicians through the National Registry as a means to ensure all EMTs are trained to the same level,” states the letter to the Emergency Medical Services Authority. “However, the EMCC is concerned the certification process has placed an unusual strain on local EMS agencies and their volunteer EMTs along the Sierra.”
Postle explained that the Inyo County EMCC fears that these added burdens on the county’s mostly volunteer EMT staff may result in a decline in trained emergency medical responders.

“The EMCC is concerned about the availability of National Registry testing sites for EMTs,” Postle told the board of Supervisors on Tuesday. “All the National Registry testing sites are on the Coast.”
Local EMS providers throughout most of Inyo and Mono counties work on a volunteer basis and have traditionally obtained the required training and certification to work as an EMT at their own expense.
Lately those expenses, including the cost of physicals, testing, classes and gas expenses to travel between 235 and 264 miles to testing sites, have been on the rise. According to Postle, the closest National Registry testing center is in the Los Angeles area “and is estimated to cost a minimum of $227.95 per round trip” just to get to the testing site. There is also a charge to take the test, he said.
In his letter to the Emergency Medical Services Authority, Postle also points out that because most local EMTs are volunteers, they are taking time off from their regular jobs and losing pay to take the test and receive certification.
“The EMCC predicts that many volunteer EMTs in Inyo County may allow their certification to expire because the cost associated with the distance of testing for National Registry is too much to deal with,” states the letter.
“The EMCC recognizes that the National Registered EMTs translates into better pre-hospital care,” Postle told supervisors, reading from the letter to the Emergency Medical Services Authority. “However, the cost associated with becoming an EMT in California is placing a financial burden on local EMS agencies and their volunteers.”
Postle is hoping that, with the aid of Inyo County and local emergency service agencies, the Emergency Medical Services Authority will consider placing a National Registry Testing Center along the Eastern Sierra corridor.
According to Postle, the EMCC can even help the Emergency Medical Services Authority identify “secure” and available locations within the area that could serve as a National Registry testing site.
Inyo County First District Supervisor Linda Arcularius suggested that the board get involved by contacting local legislators to obtain more support.
The Board of Supervisors also suggested getting in touch with first responders in Mono and Alpine counties and requesting they generate a similar letter, as both those counties rely on volunteer EMTs, much like Inyo County, and are facing the same  financial hardships.
Second District Supervisor Susan Cash recommended that the Inyo County Board of Supervisors agendize a discussion regarding a new National Registry testing center on the Eastern Sierra Council of Governments agenda to ensure that the City of Bishop, Mammoth Lakes and Mono County all have the opportunity to participate.