<body><div><figure><img src="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?type=thumbnail_580x000&amp;url=4IeKz6_1D2YxdC000" alt="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=4IeKz6_1D2YxdC000" width="640" height="400" ></figure>BROOKINGS (7-6-26) — The South Dakota Emergency Medical Services Funding Task Force met for the first time last month. The state legislature created the committee to continue the work of a similar task force last year.District 7 state Sen. Tim Reed, R-Brookings is chair of this year’s Task Force. He said ambulances — unlike police and fire services — are not considered an essential state service right now, and he’d like to change that… “We have ambulance deserts …. Everybody kind of goes by 15 minutes — that you need to get some help there for somebody within 15 minutes. And so there are places where that doesn’t happen, you know in remote areas of South Dakota. So it’s kind of two-fold. It’s making sure that it’s there for everybody, but we also have to focus on the frontier areas of the state to make sure they have this service.”He said to create sustainable, long-term systems, the state might look at regionalizing EMS services… “The Department of Health has started to approach the concept of — do we need to regionalize? Regionalization is always not fun, because you have to bring independent entities together. But what needs to happen is there needs to be efficiencies worked out in the system, and then also — if you’re going to fund it — you have to make sure that you’re transparent in everything that’s going on, if its funded by government agencies.”Reed said that covers a lot of ground… “Government agencies could be the state, it can be the county, it can be the cities. And so all of this is kind of a big part of a puzzle and the whole goal of it is to make sure that for people everywhere in the state — you call 9-1-1, and an ambulance will arrive for you. And also that those services are sustainable.”He said some one-time money from the federal Rural Health Transformation Program might be used to help establish a new, self-sustaining program… “(The Rural Health Transformation Program) is one-time funding, but it plays into anything that we may want to do to help set up these networks, and such funds could be used for that. It’s just they can’t be used for, ‘well we’re just going to help supplement these ambulance services.’ That’s where, when the federal government allocated that money, it had to be towards improvement and … it’s all one-time funds.”He said those federals funds are still just one piece of the puzzle… “And so it will be part of what we’re doing. We were updated by the Department of Health on how they see using some of these funds. That’ll also be part of a continued process through this — monitoring how those funds are used and how they can help us get to the point to make sure that everybody has that reliable service.”Reed said the committee’s ultimate goal is to find a sustainable, long-term method of funding ambulance services that can reach someone in need within 15 minutes anywhere in the state… “It has to do with making sure that there’s a funding stream — that those essential services can be there. What’s interesting about your emergency medical services is, they’re like your fire or police. They’re the responders, but on the other side they’re part of the healthcare system, right? Because you are being delivered healthcare at that point, and so it’s an interesting balance looking at how exactly it’s paid for.”The Task Force will meet up to five times during the legislature’s interim session, continuing to explore various funding models. Their second meeting is scheduled for later this month.###</div></body>

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BROOKINGS (7-6-26) — The South Dakota Emergency Medical Services Funding Task Force met for the first time last month. The state legislature created the committee to continue the work of a similar task force last year. District 7 state Sen. Tim Reed, R-Brookings is chair of this year’s Task...

State EMS Funding Task Force Explores Making Ambulances an Essential Service

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BROOKINGS (7-6-26) — The South Dakota Emergency Medical Services Funding Task Force met for the first time last month. The state legislature created the co

State EMS Funding Task Force Explores Making Ambulances an Essential Service

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