— by Susan McBain, Orcas Issues reporter —
Fire Chief Scott Williams presented the Orcas Board of Fire Commissioners with the proposed 2020 budget for Orcas Fire & Rescue (OIFR) at the Board’s October 21 meeting. The complete budget draft can be viewed here.
The expected revenue of $3,212,896 includes $2,187,660 of estimated property tax revenue. Total capital expenses are budgeted at $1,120,210, of which a major element is purchase of a new ambulance in 2020 for approximately $230,000. Total noncapital expenses are budgeted at $2,937,779.
No members of the public were present at this meeting to comment on the proposed budget, although the required formal notice had been published. The commissioners will formally adopt the budget, including any minor modifications made in the interim, at their November regular meeting.
Other topics covered in this meeting:
- OIFR’s overall expenses for 2019 are under budget at about 68% of the 2019 budgeted amount, with 75% of the year past.
- Chief Williams reported a total of 1057 calls for service for the period January–September 2019, continuing the trend of an increase of about 100 calls each year. Rescue and emergency medical services calls were 63% of the total, service calls and special incident types were 23%, and fire calls were 2%. For the month of September, overlapping calls rose from 25% last year to 28% this year; however, for January–September, overlapping calls dropped from 31% in 2018 to 24% in 2019.
- The Mobile Integrated Healthcare program received its first client, a local resident released from rehabilitation and needing home monitoring.
- Representatives from the San Juan County sheriff’s office, fire departments from Orcas and Lopez, San Juan EMS, and the County Council met to discuss progress on the emergency communications upgrade.
- Finally, member Alex Conrad is enrolled in paramedic training in Seattle and is expected to complete his training July 2020.
The next regular meeting of the Board is Monday, November 18, at 5:30 p.m. at the Eastsound Fire Hall.
Thank you Susan. It appears that budget and plans for the future are being well managed. I grateful that you are committed to bringing this information to the public.
Every one of my few clients on Orcas had expressed fear of having to dial 9.1.1 because of the backlash from OIFR trying to improve its bottom line by discouraging folks from requesting that they come thundering down rutted back roads to their home with 25,000 lbs. of unnecessary high tech equipment just to scrape them off the floor or silence a smoke alarm. Some lay on the floor all night awaiting morning staff to help them up because of this. One died in hospital of renal failure after confusion about using her Medic-alert. Neighbors disparaged her – post mortem – for being “rebellious” and causing her own death. Others are simply sent off island permanently to resolve simple temporary clinical problems.
There is a gulf, profound and sad, in our neglect of our elders. Most “bottom-line issues” are just, em, ignorance – posing as hardscrabble economics. Ignorance of the professional healthcare advocate’s role, ignorance of the basics of homecare not found in the traditional mommy-caregiver role. Ignorance of the clinical role by self-taught administrators without a shred of appropriate training. Failure of healthcare professionals to behave in a professional manner because of community ignorance of what standard they are accountable to. Bullying/arrogance as fall-back protocol.
Let us hope that the new MIH – Mobile Integrated Healthcare program at OIFR does more than protect their bottom line with shortsighted upstream interventions that fail to integrate community resources, so-called “patient-centered” interventions that ignore the deadly gulf in professional services left by a decade of community-wide malfeasance, and interventions by half a dozen community organizations and their perverse turf battles, inappropriate agendas, and opaque governance. Pat, I’m still waiting for that promised professional collaboration.