A $3.5 million levy to improve emergency services on Whidbey Island is on the Sept. 19 primary election ballot.

The current EMS levy is 37 cents per $1,000 assessed property value.

Whidbey General Hospital is proposing a 13-cent increase, which translates into a $26 annual tax hike for the owner of a $200,000 house.

“This is our second increase in 28 years,” said Roger Meyers, hospital EMS manager, adding that the levy would last for six years and never climb above 50 cents.

Slightly more than half of the hospital emergency medical service’s funding comes from the EMS levy. If the resolution does not pass, the proposed $3.8 million annual increase will not only be lost, but the entire 37 cents.

“It’s a renewal of an existing levy we’ve had since 1978 with a 13-cent increase,” Meyers said. “Since it’s a renewal, if it fails, then we get nothing.”

In preparation for the levy, Meyers has traveled the island giving presentations on the levy and what the increase will fund. Although public support among presentation attendees has been overwhelmingly positive, a good portion of the public remains in the dark.

“There are still people who don’t even know there is a levy,” the EMS manager said.

More than half of the 13-cent increase would be used to purchase five new “basic life support,” or BLS, ambulances, which aren’t as elaborately equipped as the present ambulances. As the island’s population has dramatically increased and the number of calls has risen almost exponentially, coverage has become a problem. The two-tiered system now being used is incomplete, Meyers said, especially in the face of a continuing influx of people moving to the area.

An off-island transport can mean the loss of an ambulance for five hours or more. Other ambulances are mobilized from North Whidbey and strategically placed to cover the rest of the island. In the case of additional emergencies requiring “advanced life support” or ALS ambulances, of which four presently exist on the island, the situation becomes more strained and additional units must be mobilized.

Five new emergency vehicles would free up the advanced resources. And by sending a basic unit and advanced unit with two paramedics onboard, the specialists can then be split up at the scene and two advanced units are created.

Emergency medical technicians, who have 150 hours of basic life support training, respond to all medical and trauma emergencies. Prior to transport, advanced life support paramedics must determine the patient’s condition is not life threatening.

Advanced paramedics undergo more than 2,000 hours of training and can administer over 42 life-saving medications. They can also do electrocardiograms at the scene and send them to the ER doctor if requested.

“They essentially stabilize a patient prior to and during transport,” Meyers said.

The solution proposed by the hospital for the medical service quandary is to position the five additional basic units around the island and have fire district employees man the ambulances full-time.

“It enhances our system approach,” Meyers said. “It ultimately saves money because it reduces redundancies of personnel, facilities, education, and training.”

The hospital would provide $142,000 per ambulance. North Whidbey Fire and Rescue would receive two vehicles, while Central and South Whidbey would each have one. Fire district chiefs and commissioners discussed the program with hospital personnel at a recent meeting. Joe Biller, Central Whidbey Fire and Rescue chief, said all of the districts were onboard with the basic life support concept. Money, or the lack of it, was the primary issue. South Whidbey maintained that the allotted amount would not suffice. Biller said with volunteers, the plan would be feasible. With full-time employees, however, the funding would not cover the costs. Volunteer firefighters already respond to every call.

“The crux is that the hospital knows that it cannot continue to provide ALS coverage to every call, and probably shouldn’t because some are very simple and only need basic first aid or basic life support,” the fire chief said. “If the fire districts don’t help, the hospital still will be doing some form of basic life support, but without the levy money, they can’t pull a rabbit out of a hat.”

Fire district personnel unanimously agreed that further discussion should ensue. Meyers confirmed the dialogue will be ongoing.

“The fire districts will either assist us with this program, or we will do it ourselves,” he said. “We’re still discussing it.”

With levy money, a criteria-based dispatch system will be implemented, which will drastically decrease the number of vehicles responding to each call, a concern with some citizens. Through the system, specialized medical crews and ambulances would be mobilized based on the severity of the situation.

“The BLS units are dispatched to all non-life threatening calls and the ALS are not dispatched at all if it’s not life threatening,” Meyers said. “It’s more efficient and cost effective.”

Biller praised the system and its ability to increase services by splitting up paramedics at the scene.

“It is expandable and that’s a pretty neat feature,” he said. “We’re just going to continue to get busier. Something needs to happen. It is doable and from the customer’s standpoint, it should be seamless. There shouldn’t be an issue about quality in the type of medical care they’re receiving.”

The remainder of the 13-cent increase will be used to construct paramedic quarters in Coupeville and Freeland, where the facilities are considered grossly insufficient.

When voters go to the polls on Sept. 19, they will vote on continued funding for the only emergency services offered on the island. The fate, as it were, rests with the people who benefit from the medical care.

“The voters will ensure the future of our ambulances,” Meyers said.