Saturday, November 23, 2002

Bosque Farms considers setting up first-response emergency unit

Clara Garcia News-Bulletin Staff Writer; cgarcia@news-bulletin.com

Bosque Farms As Bosque Farms attempts to set up its own first-response emergency medical service, the village council learned it may have to wait nine months before any significant progress might be seen.

Although the village is expected to receive $1,500 in grant money next week from the New Mexico Department of Health, another grant the village applied for won't be awarded until about August.

Jeff Crum, who is in charge of setting up the proposed Bosque Farms emergency medical service, said the grant that was received is strictly for start-up costs, providing for education and soft goods.

"It doesn't matter what type of service you have, that's all they give you," Crum said about the $1,500 grant. "And then, after the first year in service, it depends on what type of service you bring ... determines how much funding you get. Basic service can get $5,000 a year in EMS service."

Crum also applied for a $49,000 grant from the New Mexico Department of Health for a new vehicle that would be transport-capable and for hard goods. Crum said hard goods include items such as a wheeled stretcher.

When asked about the timeline of the grant, Crum said the process is a very lengthy one. The grant application is first looked at by the regional EMS directors who set priorities on the services. Then the grant would be presented in front of the state advisory committee in January before heading to the state health board in February.

"We would then receive notification in May, but wouldn't receive funds until August," Crum said. "We would not know anything until the middle of next year whether we will receive any funding at all."

Crum explained to the village council that these are matching grants, which means the village would have to come up with 25 percent ($1,700) of the grant.

According to the grant application, the village is requesting funding to start the EMS service because needs are not being met in the village. The new first-responder service would include two paramedics, two EMT-Interme-diates and two EMT-Basics.

During the discussion at the council meeting Thursday night, Crum said the situation regarding emergency medical service in the county is deteriorating day by day. He told the council a lot of the problems are due to staffers who feel overwhelmed at both the paid ambulance service and the volunteer departments.

"Living Cross is now down to two ambulances in the county because they lost staffing," he said. "On Sundays and Mondays, they're down to one unit and, the rest of the week, they're down to two units."

When Councilor Wayne Ake asked Crum if he's concerned that the village's volunteers may also become overwhelmed, Crum said he would recommend the village not enter into a mutual-aid agreement with the surrounding communities. Neither the village of Bosque Farms nor or any other municipality is required to do so.

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