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<br />III. INTRODUCTORY COMMENTS—Springfield Fire Chief Dennis Murphy <br />Chief Murphy reviewed the history of ambulance service for the area.. On May 1, 1981, Eugene, <br />Springfield and Central Lane County witnessed the collapse of the regional service system that had been <br />operated for over 26 years by a private company. In just a few hours, local fire departments pooled their <br />resources and initiated emergency ambulance operations. In 1983, the fire departments, working together, <br />won a state award for top performance and in 1985 were named number one in the nation for advanced life <br />support ambulance systems. Additional accomplishments included: <br /> <br />? <br /> Eugene/Springfield Metropolitan area fire departments were the first to develop programs in ad- <br />vanced cardiac care that were adopted statewide, nationally and internationally. <br />? <br /> The FireMed system was initiated to ensure that all people, regardless of their income, could afford <br />to call for 9-1-1 ambulance service without worrying about the cost. <br /> <br />FireMed had since spread to over 80 ambulance service areas in Oregon and California. In 1997, Fortune <br />magazine recognized this area as one of the ten best areas to live for people who were at risk of suffering <br />sudden cardiac arrest. The purpose of this evening’s meeting was to review issues that unless resolved, <br />could lead to a destabilization of one of the nation’s premier emergency medical service systems. The <br />current financial crisis started in 1998 when Congress passed legislation that began a reduction of <br />reimbursement for ambulance services, followed by a subsequent reduction in 2003. The reductions <br />following the negative impacts of the current economy must be dealt with to ensure the quality of service <br />continued. Although each local jurisdiction had already taken steps to address the problem, tonight a new <br />effort of joint problem-solving commenced. It was fitting that a regional problem was dealt with <br />collaboratively by the region’s governments with the strength of past partnerships that had resulted in the <br />program’s success. He noted the appropriateness of the scheduling of tonight’s meeting, because January <br />27, 2009, had been declared by Oregon Governor Ted Kulongowski as Fire Service Appreciation Day. <br /> <br /> <br />IV. POWERPOINT PRESENTATION <br />Eugene Fire Chief Randy Groves expressed his appreciation to those in attendance and acknowledged that <br />elected officials were called upon to spend their evenings working for the betterment of the community. He <br />reiterated the long-standing tradition in the central Lane County area of working together to build a world <br />class emergency medical service (EMS) system that provided an experienced, stable workforce which <br />brought a host of clinical sophistication to bear on medical emergencies. <br /> <br />Chief Groves offered an overview of the issues before the JEOs with a PowerPoint presentation entitled <br />Central Lane County Ambulance Service Summit. He said there were several policy questions to be <br />addressed: <br /> <br />? <br /> Was ambulance transport considered a core service for local governments to provide? <br />? <br /> What level of pre-hospital care should be provided for our communities? <br />? <br /> Was there a more appropriate delivery model for our system? <br />? <br /> Should ambulance transport fees continue to augment general fund fire and rescue services? <br />? <br /> How should the ambulance transport system be funded? <br /> <br /> <br /> <br />MINUTES—Joint Elected Officials— January 27, 2009 Page 2 <br /> Lane Board of County Commissioners, Lane Rural Fire/Rescue Board of Directors and Eu- <br />gene and Springfield City Councils <br /> <br />