Midway Fire District will bid alone and with AMR
BY PAM BRANNON Gulf Breeze News news@gulfbreezenews.com

Midway Fire Commissioners voted at a special meeting Friday night to enter into a partnership agreement with American Medical Response (AMR) ambulance service in submitting a bid at the end of the month to provide ambulance service to all of Santa Rosa County. AMR is the largest ambulance service in the nation, with both ground and air ambulances.

But Midway Commissioners have also decided to submit their own separate bid for Midway Fire District to operate a countywide ambulance service, with no partner.

Fire Chief Stephen Demeter told his commissioners Friday that their legal counsel said this week that under the bid proposal advertised by the county Midway can enter as many bids in as many forms as they wish. So they decided Friday to submit two bids, with one being MFD providing countywide ambulance service with no partner, placing ambulances around the county and coordinating with other fire departments. Included with that bid will be their approved line of credit for just over $3-million for start up costs, purchase of ambulances, and added payroll costs of new paramedics.

But they will also submit a partnership bid with AMR, with Midway only servicing its own area under that bid. "We are trying to cover all our bases," Commissioner/Treasurer Clyde

Midway Fire Commissioners voted at a special meeting Friday night to enter into a partnership agreement with American Medical Response (AMR) ambulance service in submitting a bid at the end of the month to provide ambulance service to all of Santa Rosa County. AMR is the largest ambulance service in the nation, with both ground and air ambulances.

But Midway Commissioners have also decided to submit their own separate bid for Midway Fire District to operate a countywide ambulance service, with no partner.

Fire Chief Stephen Demeter told his commissioners Friday that their legal counsel said this week that under the bid proposal advertised by the county Midway can enter as many bids in as many forms as they wish. So they decided Friday to submit two bids, with one being MFD providing countywide ambulance service with no partner, placing ambulances around the county and coordinating with other fire departments. Included with that bid will be their approved line of credit for just over $3-million for start up costs, purchase of ambulances, and added payroll costs of new paramedics.

But they will also submit a partnership bid with AMR, with Midway only servicing its own area under that bid. "We are trying to cover all our bases," Commissioner/ Treasurer Clyde Broome said.

The bids to provide ambulance service to Santa Rosa County for the next five years are due into the county emergency officials by 5 p.m. April 3.

That gives Midway Fire and AMR two weeks to hammer out a contract between themselves, and also put together a joint proposal to submit to the county. Chief Demeter told commissioners, "If this partnership bid would be approved by the county, it would be almost like having our very own COPN (operating certificate), carving out our area for ourselves to handle our own ambulance transports. We could do what we have been wanting to do - service our own residents the way we want to with our own ambulances."

AMR agreed to pay Midway Fire $300 per emergency transport it handles within the Midway area, under this proposed partnership agreement, if AMR wins the countywide contract.

Under the partnership agreement, MFD would still purchase two ambulances of their own. AMR had offered to place two of their ambulances in Midway, but at least one of those would not be equipped with the rescue apparatus MFD wants, so the Chief wants to purchase ambulances with the equipment needed that would belong to Midway. Commissioners approved that plan. Treasurer Broome presented commissioners with a five-year financial study on the partnership agreement with AMR, based on figures of what ambulance transports the Midway area has generated in the last couple years, showing that even with the purchase of the two ambulances the fiveyear projection shows Midway would break even financially by the end of five years.

Commissioners scheduled a special meeting for Wednesday, March 28 to review the contract AMR will work out with the Fire Chief and if they approve that contract, they will move forward with the joint bid for the county ambulance service.