����vlog

AND NEW AT SIX. VOTERS IN A DOZEN COUNTIES WILL DECIDE IF THEY WANT TO FUND EMS AS AN ESSENTIAL COUNTYWIDE SERVICE. ����vlog INVESTIGATES HAS SPENT WEEKS REACHING OUT TO ALL 99 COUNTIES IN THE STATE TO SEE WHICH ONES WOULD BE VOTING ON THIS ISSUE. OPHELIA JACOBSON IS IN STUDIO WITH A LOOK AT THE ISSUE. OPHELIA. 13 COUNTIES ACROSS THE STATE HAVE ALREADY GONE THROUGH THE PROCESS AND CREATED A TAX LEVY TO FUND A COUNTYWIDE EMS SERVICE. YOU CAN SEE THOSE COUNTIES ON THIS MAP RIGHT HERE TONIGHT. 12 MORE COUNTIES HOPE TO DO THE SAME. THE GUTHRIE COUNTY BOARD OF SUPERVISORS PASSED A RESOLUTION DECLARING EMS ESSENTIAL IN 2022. NOW IT’S UP TO GUTHRIE COUNTY VOTERS TO DECIDE IF THEY WANT TO FUND A COUNTYWIDE SERVICE. THIS IS PROBABLY THE WORST TIME I’VE EVER HAD IN MY LIFE. VERA KENYON STILL REMEMBERS THE NIGHT HER HUSBAND OF 65 YEARS DIED. HE WOKE HER UP IN THE MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT, AND SHE SOON REALIZED HE WAS HAVING A STROKE. I THOUGHT, I NEED TO CALL 911. THERE’S SOMETHING SERIOUSLY GOING WRONG HERE. KENYON CALLED 911 AND THEN WAITED. I SIT THERE WITH HIM FOR A GOOD HALF HOUR PLUS WAITING FOR THE AMBULANCE TO GET THERE. HER HUSBAND DIED SHORTLY AFTER SHE CALLED, BUT SHE SAYS THAT HALF AN HOUR WAIT WAS A NIGHTMARE. I WOULDN’T I WOULDN’T WANT ANYONE TO HAVE TO GO THROUGH THAT. I SIT THERE WITH HIM UNTIL THEY GOT THERE, WHICH SEEMED LIKE AN ETERNITY. NOW, FOUR YEARS LATER, KENYON IS SHARING HER STORY AND URGING PEOPLE, WE SHOULD GO AHEAD AND MAKE AN EFFORT TO TRY AND DO IT. TO VOTE YES ON A BALLOT MEASURE THAT OFFICIALS SAY WOULD IMPROVE EMERGENCY RESPONSE TIMES IN GUTHRIE COUNTY. PEOPLE WILL BE VOTING ON WHETHER OR NOT TO APPROVE A NEW TAX LEVY THAT IS SPECIFICALLY FOR FUNDING FOR EMERGENCY MEDICAL SERVICES IN GUTHRIE COUNTY. COUNTY SUPERVISOR MAGGIE ARMSTRONG SAYS THEY’RE ASKING FOR $0.75 PER $1,000 OF ASSESSED VALUE ON ALL TAXABLE PROPERTY. ARMSTRONG SAYS THAT WOULD RAISE MORE THAN $750,000 A YEAR. WE HAVE THREE REALLY GREAT SERVICES IN GUTHRIE COUNTY RIGHT NOW, SO EACH OF THOSE SERVICES WILL RECEIVE SOME FUNDING, AND THEN WE’RE GOING TO BE PUTTING ANOTHER AMBULANCE IN THE CENTER OF THE COUNTY IN GUTHRIE CENTER. THERE WILL BE EXPENSES, INVOICES, VOTERS LEARNED MORE ABOUT THE PLAN DURING AN EDUCATIONAL MEETING AHEAD OF ELECTION DAY. THE MONEY WOULD BE DISTRIBUTED AMONG PANORA EMS, STUART RESCUE AND ADAIR FIRE AND RESCUE BASED ON CALL VOLUME AND POPULATION. OUR CURRENT SYSTEM IS NOT SUSTAINABLE. EVERYONE DESERVES RELIABLE AND TIMELY COVERAGE IS PORTRAYED AS. THIS IS THE ONLY OPTION, BUT SOME BELIEVE THE CURRENT PROPOSAL IS NOT SUSTAINABLE. I WILL BE VOTING NO ON THE BALLOT INITIATIVE. COUNTY SUPERVISOR MIKE DIXON SAYS THEY’RE ASKING FOR TOO MUCH MONEY. DIXON SAYS HE CARES ABOUT EMS, BUT HE BELIEVES THERE’S A BETTER WAY TO IMPROVE SERVICES. WE NEED TO TAKE A STEP BACK. WE NEED TO RESEARCH THIS A LITTLE MORE, DIXON SAYS. PUTTING AN AMBULANCE IN GUTHRIE CENTER WON’T SOLVE THE ISSUE, EITHER. YOU’RE STILL NOT GETTING OUT TO THE WESTERN PART OF THE COUNTY, WHICH WAS THE WHICH REALLY BROUGHT THIS UP TO BEGIN WITH. HE SAYS THERE’S NO CONTRACTUAL PLAN IN PLACE FOR HOW FUNDS WILL BE DISTRIBUTED, AND WITHOUT THOSE AGREEMENTS, HE SAYS, THEY WOULD JUST BE THROWING MONEY AT THE WALL. I WOULD LIKE TO SEE THOSE AGREEMENTS IN PLACE BEFORE PEOPLE VOTE ON IT. WE’RE NOT GETTING JUST A BLANK CHECK. IT IS ACTUAL EXPENSES. THAT IS NEEDED. PANORA EMS DIRECTOR JOHN DELAVAN SAYS ALL THREE EMERGENCY MEDICAL SERVICES IN THE COUNTY SUBMITTED PROPOSALS EARLIER THIS YEAR, AND HE SAYS THERE WILL BE OVERSIGHT OF FUNDS. WE TURN IN REQUESTS FOR REIMBURSEMENT. IT GOES TO A COMMITTEE THAT OVERLOOKS THAT AND SAYS, WELL, YES, WE AGREE THAT IT SHOULD BE REIMBURSED OR NO, WE DON’T. DELAVAN SAYS HIS DEPARTMENT NEEDS THE MONEY. PANORA EMS COVERS 80% OF THE COUNTY AND RESPONDS TO 900 CALLS A YEAR, BUT MOST OF THEIR FUNDING COMES FROM THE CITY OF PANORA AND NEARBY TOWNSHIPS. THIS PASSES. IT IS GOING TO SPREAD IT AMONGST EVERYBODY. EVERYBODY IS GOING TO HELP PAY FOR THE SERVICES IN THIS COUNTY. HE SAYS PUTTING AN AMBULANCE IN GUTHRIE CENTER WOULD ALSO HELP THEM REDUCE RESPONSE TIMES RIGHT NOW, IT CAN TAKE UP TO 30 MINUTES TO GET TO SOME PARTS OF THE COUNTY. IF WE DON’T DO ANYTHING, THE SITUATION IS NOT GOING TO GET ANY BETTER. IT IS ONLY GOING TO GET WORSE. I NEVER REALLY THOUGHT ABOUT IT UNTIL IT HAPPENED TO ME. KENYON SAYS SHE WOULD HAVE NEVER IMAGINED WAITING A HALF HOUR FOR AN AMBULANCE. SHE HOPES NO ONE ELSE WILL EVER HAVE TO DO THE SAME. I THINK IT WOULD BE MONEY WELL SPENT. YOU CAN’T PUT A PRICE ON A HUMAN BEING. THE TAX REFERENDUM NEEDS 60% APPROVAL TO PASS. NOW WE REACHED OUT TO ALL OF IOWA’S 99 COUNTIES, AND WE FOUND THAT THREE COUNTIES. SCOTT BREMER AND MARION, HAVE TAKEN THAT FIRST STEP TOWARDS FUNDING A COUNTYWIDE SERVICE. THAT MEANS THE BOARD OF SUPERVISORS HAS DECLARED EMS AN ESSENTIAL SERVICE, BUT A TAX LEVY HASN’T BEEN PUT ON THE BALLOT. TWO COUNTIES TRIED TO PASS THE REFERENDUM, BUT IT FAILED. WE FOUND THAT 79 COUNTIES HAVE TAKEN NO FORMAL ACTION IN THIS PROCESS. STACY AND BEN. THANK YOU. OPHELIA. REALLY FEEL FOR MRS. KENYON IN THAT STORY? ABSOLUTELY. IN IOWA, EMS IS NOT CONSIDERED AN ESSENTIAL SERVICE. SO THERE IS NO GUARANTEE OR REQUIREMENT THAT AN AMBULANCE WILL SHOW UP WHEN SOMEBODY DIALS 911. IN 2021, GOVERNOR REYNOLDS SIGNED A BILL INTO LAW PROVIDING THE FRAMEWORK FOR COUNTIES TO DEEM THE SERVICE ESSENTIAL. IT ALLOWS THEM TO CREATE A REFERENDUM TO RAISE PROPERTY TAXES, TO FUND EMS. ����vlog INVESTIGATES HAS DONE EXTENSIVE RESEARCH ON THIS TOPIC. YOU FIND YOU CAN FIND