OIL CITY, Pa. (EYT) – A proposed ambulance service run by the Oil City Fire Department could create upwards of $285,000.00 in income for the city.

Oil City Fire Department captain Mark Hicks (pictured above) presented council with the tentative plans during the October 27 council meeting.

Hicks said the ambulance service is crucial due to an increase in elderly residents and a citywide heroin epidemic.

“We want to continue to provide the service to our citizens that we have for the past 125 years,” Hicks stated. “This is a do or die situation.”

Hicks stressed that the ambulance service is needed within Venango County and would coincide with Community Ambulance Service. The ambulance service would transport patients to either UPMC Northwest or Titusville Area Hospital.

“That patient is going to have 100 percent patient care by their first responders,” Hicks said.

To start the ambulance service, the fire department would need to purchase one new and one used ambulance. The used ambulance would be utilized when the primary ambulance is out of service and could respond to second incidents.

Hicks made it clear that the ambulance service would need to operate out of one station in order to maintain its current five-person staff. This would mean North Side Fire Station would be shut down, as council has discussed in the past.

Several options for a new transportable ambulance were presented to council and are as follows:

• Horton Emergency Vehicles — $146,990.00
• Community Leasing Partners — $146,990.00, paid over three years in increments of $51,955.44
• Community Leasing Partners — $131,990.00 with $15,000.00 down payment, paid over three years in increments of $46,653.50

Hicks had also found other ambulances priced at $90,000.00 and $70,000.00. A second used ambulance would cost between $10,000.00 and $15,000.00.

Additional expenditures would include equipment costs, malpractice insurance, vehicle insurance, tires, maintenance, inspection, and fuel.

The total project start-up cost is estimated at $110,000.00.

However, the potential for non tax-based income would offset the city’s looming 2017 budget deficit, Hicks explained.

He broke down medical responses over the past four years as follows:

2013

• 1,523 total medical responses
• 1,142 billable medical responses (potential city income)

2014

• 1,634 total medical responses
• 1,225 billable medical responses

2015

• 1,599 total medical responses
• 1,200 billable medical responses

2016 as of October 25

• 1,310 total medical responses
• 982 billable medical responses

A statement from Speclin Billing and Management Group predicted $285,924.30 in total annual income, with Ambulance Reimbursement Systems  projecting a total revenue of $402,196.57.

Additional income could be found through membership fees and Pennsylvania State Fire and Assistance to Firefighters grants. Hicks also said the fire department has the required equipment to provide confined space rescue to local facilities.

If given the green light on the project by January 1 of next year, the ambulance service could be active by March of 2017, pending a three to six month wait period on receiving certifications through Medicare and Medicaid.

An additional meeting will be held with Oil City Fire Department and Community Ambulance Service to determine how it would affect operations throughout the county.