Montgomery County Commissioners gave their approval to an inter-local agreement with the City of Crawfordsville for the provision of county-wide emergency medical ambulance service.
The agreement approved Monday covers all incorporated towns and incorporated areas in the county and has a first year price tag of $928,152. The cost will increase annually the first five years and will be renegotiated in 2027 for upcoming years. The annual stipend for 2027 is $1,044,644.
The Crawfordsville Common Council was expected to accept the agreement Monday evening at its regularly scheduled meeting.
If approved by all parties, the Crawfordsville EMS Department will provide advanced life support ambulance services to every town and township in Montgomery County beginning Jan. 1, 2023. The department currently provides its services to the city and Union Township. The new agreement will not affect services or contracts already in place.
Per the agreement, the city will provide one ambulance dedicated to the contracted areas and will provide all personnel to man the ambulance. In the event more ambulances are needed in an emergency, the city will send more ambulances. The city also will maintain mutual agreements with nearby EMS ambulance services.
The agreement outlines how the city must stay compliant with the county’s acceptable response time. It includes a two-minute “enroute to call” after receiving an initial call from dispatch and a 17 minute time limit to arrive on the scene. The city will be required to meet the acceptable response times in 90% of all calls.
A fire department training officer will be used annually to provide training for first response teams in outlying communities. Monthly in-service training for first responders also will be available.
The agreement will be administered by a joint board to be known as the Montgomery County-City of Crawfordsville EMAS Board. The board will consist of a person designated by the county commissioners and an individual designated by the mayor.
Commissioners have worked on providing EMS ambulance services ever since they were informed by S.T.A.R. Ambulance they would no longer be providing emergency ambulance services.
“I want to thank everyone who has spent a lot of time in getting this agreement done,” Commissioner President John Fry said. “We appreciate all the hard work and the city for their cooperation.”
Commissioners appointed Kyle Hunt to the county health board.
In other business, the council approved:
• Highway Department annual bids
• The establishment of a HAZ-MAT training grant fund in the amount of $16,000.
• The establishment of an EMS Training Room Grant fund in the amount of $92,504.
• The establishment of a fund for a cybersecurity grant in the amount of $145,991.
