Eleven years ago, 17-year-old Emma Kiefer was driving home to Lehigh after babysitting the daughters of a family friend. Traveling southbound down U.S. Highway 169, her car was t-boned by a drunk driver who barreled through the stop sign at the intersection of old Iowa Highway 50.

Kiefer suffered a traumatic brain injury, collapsed lung, broken pelvis, and broken ribs in the accident.

Deputy sheriffs Nick Dunbar and April Murray were the first on-scene and quickly called for the Otho Fire Department, Southwest Webster Emergency Medical Service, Trinity Regional Medical Center, as well as the LifeFlight helicopter.

“If EMS wouldn’t have been there that day and as quickly as they were, I believe Emma would have died,” said Angie Kiefer, Emma’s mother. “I believe that God put everyone that was there that night to help Emma, but without all of the firemen, EMTs, and officers on scene, LifeFlight would have been delayed. Emma’s brain would have swelled and she would have died.”

-Submitted photo
Emma Kiefer survived being hit by a drunk driver in 2013. Though she suffered a traumatic brain injury, collapsed lung, broken pelvis, and broken ribs in the accident, her mother credits EMS for saving Emma’s life. She is now married with two young children.

At the time of Emma’s accident, LifeFlight was based out of Des Moines, adding an additional half hour of flight time to the response. A LifeFlight helicopter is now located in Fort Dodge at UnityPoint Health -Trinity Regional Medical Center, “but without our trained EMTs and firemen, who knows when to call for one? How would we utilize having Lifeflight so close?” asked Angie Kiefer.

After six weeks in a medically induced coma, Emma Kiefer was transferred to On With Life in Des Moines where she relearned how to walk, talk, and eat. She was in-patient at On With Life for three months and later returned to graduate in 2014 with her class at Southeast Webster-Grand High School while also doing out-patient therapy for four months.

Now 11 years later, Emma Kiefer is thriving, and she and her husband, Stephen Rudd, have two young children.

“The possibility of not having EMS available for emergencies and accidents like Emma’s does worry me,” added Angie Kiefer. “Our small communities have a hard time getting people to volunteer to be firemen and EMTs, but with or without, emergency situations are still going to happen and people will still need help. I absolutely support making EMS an essential service. We need this.”

Like most counties in Iowa, EMS is currently not considered an essential service and unlike law enforcement and fire departments, is not funded by the city, county, or state. Instead, EMS departments have historically been forced to rely on donations, fundraisers, and sometimes even utilizing funds from their corresponding fire department.

EMS as an Essential Service: Special election vote: March 4 Dedicated tax of 75 cents per $1,000 of taxable property value would fund EMS services

Without funding for supplies, vehicles, certifications, and personnel, some EMS departments may have no other choice than to dissolve, leaving large service area gaps throughout the county that could leave victims of car accidents, like Kiefer, and many other emergencies without anyone to call for help.

A Tuesday special election vote will determine whether emergency medical services in Webster County are funded into the future. If passed, a dedicated tax of 75-cents per $1,000 of taxable property value would fund EMS services throughout Webster County – both within the City of Fort Dodge and in rural communities.

“While EMS responds to heart attacks and strokes, it’s not just those types of emergencies that we are needed at,” said Luke Hugghins, EMS coordinator for the Badger Fire Department. “We also respond to life-threatening emergencies like car accidents, falls, asthma attacks, allergic reactions, seizures, fainting, drug overdoses, mental health episodes, and many other emergencies. This vote is about ensuring that everyone ­no matter where you live, what event you’re at, what school your kids go to, etc. when an emergency happens, everyone has access to emergency services.”

Annual projections for the dedicated tax done in conjunction with the Webster County Auditor’s Office show that the tax will raise about $1.6 million annually with the largest portion of that funding going towards transport agencies.

For Webster County property owners with an approximate taxable value of $115,000, they would pay $86.89 annually in taxes for EMS services.

Those with an approximate taxable value of $162,000 would pay $121.65 annually in taxes for EMS services throughout the county to continue.

If passed, the EMS funds would be placed into an EMS Trust Fund with the county to be distributed by the county. The funds would not be separated between the City of Fort Dodge and the county. Instead, all funds would be held by the county and overseen by an EMS Advisory Council as well as the Webster County Supervisors.

If passed on Tuesday, Fort Dodge Fire Department is anticipated to receive approximately $1.2 million in funding because it has the largest tax base in the county. That funding is anticipated to be used to purchase an additional ambulance, build a second fire station, and hire nine additional staff members.

“This would be an additional three (staff) per shift,” said Fort Dodge Fire Chief Matt Price. “This allows us a guarantee of two every day in order to have one more ambulance in service. Our current station is also full and was designed before we took over the ambulance, so we need to add a station for the staffing and better coverage and response times.”

The second fire station would be shared with the county to reduce the financial burden and to ensure that services are available county-wide.

“Sharing costs and resources with the county would improve emergency response and ensure that the Fire Department can handle the increasing demand more effectively,” added Price.

According to Hugghins, the added fire station would most likely be built on the west side of Fort Dodge. Based on a study that focused on numerous years of call volumes, call locations, and response times within response areas, the west end of Fort Dodge was found to be the most effective place for the new station.

“We would love a staffed station in all our rural districts, but if all the districts north of Fort Dodge combine for approximately 250 calls per year while Fort Dodge city limits and the rest of the county receive 5,000 per year, the limited resources available need to be prioritized for maximum impact,” said Hugghins. “There are northern parts of the county that would have faster response times from the west Fort Dodge location and others that are closer to Fort Dodge’s current station, so Fort Dodge can respond from the closest station with an ambulance available.”

Hugghins, an EMT and member of the EMS committee, said Badger Fire Department, which would receive funding through the dedicated tax, typically averages 80 calls per year. But in recent years, call volume has increased to around 120 calls with 85 percent of calls for service being EMS calls versus fire or technical rescue.

He also said that approximately 57 percent of Badger Fire Rescue’s EMS calls required an Advanced Life Support (paramedic) level care beyond Badger’s Basic Life Support (EMT) capabilities.

“Communities in the northern part of the county are fortunate to be geographically closer to Fort Dodge for many of its amenities including Advanced Life Support EMS,” said Hugghins. “Since Fort Dodge is centered between those communities, it is a natural hub to serve those areas as their primary ambulance when there are not enough resources to have paid-staff transport in every community.”

If Tuesday’s special election vote doesn’t pass by the required 60 percent necessary, Hugghins said services throughout the county will dwindle.

“There were 217 instances last year where Fort Dodge had no more ambulances to respond even for in-town calls, so people living, working or playing in Fort Dodge need more resources regardless of other county demand,” added Hugghins.

“If this vote fails, Fort Dodge leadership have said they cannot sustainably continue providing service outside of Fort Dodge city limits so that would leave every other county resident or rural community in the northern part of the county without an ambulance service and would still leave a gap in service for those in Fort Dodge,” he said. “If it fails and these rural communities want to continue receiving service from Fort Dodge or look at other transport services, they will still need those additional resources, meaning individual communities, townships, or other governing organizations would have to negotiate and fund a solution on their own. Non-transport services will continue doing our omelet and pancake breakfasts, auctions, street dances, and other fundraisers to keep our services afloat alongside our fire protection obligations. But if this doesn’t pass, we will not have the guaranteed ambulance en-route or funding for priorities such as sending new people through the EMT program, providing meaningful continuing education opportunities, or maintaining high-quality EMS equipment.”

Voting for the special election is available on Monday at the Webster County Auditor’s Office. Polls open on Tuesday, throughout Webster County from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. As of Thursday at noon, only 234 people had voted early with 50 requesting absentee ballots.

“Please get out and vote,” said Price.