An effort to declare Emergency Medical Services as an essential service in Hardin County continues.
Hardin County Supervisor BJ Hoffman, who spent 23 years as a licensed EMS provider, believes that EMS is important, especially in rural Iowa.
“In rural Iowa where our health care systems in our rural hospitals have seen some decline, our EMS providers are our first line of success. So EMS as an essential service is something that the Board of Supervisors can adopt by resolution. And I know for a fact, my colleagues have no problem adopting that, but that doesn’t solve the problem. It doesn’t even turn on the funding spigot. So what we really need to work on is the Board of Supervisors delegating authority with EMS as an essential service is we facilitate a public referendum.”
Hoffman says while that may sound easy, there is a lot of work to go along with putting a measure on the ballot, including county residents understanding what their tax dollars will be used for.
“The people of Hardin County want two paramedic ambulances on duty 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Do they want to fund the first responders that don’t transport patients that serve Steamboat Rock and New Providence and Buckeye? What do they want for their money? So those things have to be looked at and state code says that an EMS advisory committee has to be formed. So that’s the first thing, getting a handful of people to come to the table and discuss whether they want EMS to look one way or the other.”
Voters in Butler County approved a similar measure during the 2024 election to collect an EMS tax levy. These measures need 60% approval to pass.
