By Erin Cleavenge
The Dominion Post
MONONGALIA COUNTY, W.Va. — When you need emergency medical services (EMS) in Monongalia County, the professionals at Monongalia EMS will likely be answering that call.
In fact, 99 % of 911 EMS calls made in Mon County in 2023 were answered by Mon EMS, according to the 2023 Community Report recently released by the agency.
The 2023 report is the second annual report released by the agency and summarizes the calendar and fiscal year.
Executive Director Forest Weyen said he feels it is important to be transparent with the numbers after voters approved a four-year EMS Levy that provides approximately $4, 470, 399 per year to help support the provision of EMS services.
Through the ongoing training of its 119 employees and technology equipment investments, Weyen stated the agency has made “significant strides " in efficiency and effectiveness resulting in faster response capabilities, reduced waste and improved patient outcomes.
Throughout the year, EMS reported answering 21, 440 total calls in Mon County, which averages to over 58 calls per day.
The agency maintains seven EMS stations placed throughout the county, with the Evansdale area averaging the most calls per day at 14.5, followed by downtown Morgantown averaging 12.6 calls daily. The less populated Blacksville area averaged the least daily calls at 2.1.
With a fleet of 38 vehicles including ambulances, trucks, vans, ATVs, trailers, and a watercraft, Mon EMS traveled nearly 682, 000 miles in 2023. And due to the constant use and the average five-year life span of an ambulance and the 3.75-year life span of the fleet, Weyen said maintenance and fuel costs can accumulate quickly.
“It’s a constant struggle to keep that fleet up, " Weyen said. “Our vehicles are moving around the clock and that adds up the miles and especially the engine very quickly.”
One of the biggest issues Mon EMS, and other EMS services, face is non-billable calls. They cannot bill anyone for their time and services if the call is canceled or no one is transported by ambulance. This also can prevent them from answering other calls that may be more urgent.
“Out of those 21, 000 calls, we had over 5, 000 that were non-billable, " Weyen explained at a recent Monongalia County Commission meeting. “So, when you talk about the impact of the levy dollars and making sure we are here for the community when it’s needed, that’s a huge number of canceled calls, no patient transported or canceled in route.”
EMS personnel in Mon County are also receiving some of the best training in the state, logging 3, 838 total training hours last year.
The agency achieved a significant milestone in 2023, receiving a five-year accreditation as an EMS educational institution from the West Virginia Office of Emergency Medical Services.
The accreditation, a first for Mon EMS, will enable them to offer Initial Basic Life Support (BLS) courses, which are essential for emergency medical responder (EMR) or emergency medical technician (EMT) certification.
Additionally, they will be able to provide continuing education for both basic and advanced life support, providing educational opportunities up to the paramedic level.
Weyen said the accreditation allowed them to bring education in-house that was difficult to obtain through other EMS agencies around the state and they can now provide a robust training schedule that can train new people to become EMS providers and still do continuing education for current providers.
In 2023, the agency staffed 43 paramedics with an average of 12.22 years of experience and nine with more than 20 years. The average tenure of the 64 EMTs was 7.68 years, six of whom had 20 or more years of experience.
Mon EMS personnel were present at 137 community events last year for Mon County Schools, county athletic and non-athletic events, and West Virginia Black Bears games.
Some statistics included in the report were the biggest complaints at WVU football games.
During the 2023 season, Mon EMS attended to 57 substance-related complaints, 38 unresponsive people, 38 general medical problems, 29 traumatic injuries, 17 falls, 14 unknown problems, and four listed as other.
Weyen told the commission the agency’s next area of focus is infrastructure.
“For Mon EMS, our biggest thing is trying to build the infrastructure. We’ve stabilized operations for the most part, but it’s time for us to start building EMS stations that Mon County needs and deserves, " Weyen said.
He added that the agency would be developing more long-term planning like long-term facility plans and the fleet replacement plan they have already created, as well as developing leadership within the agency.
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