What do I get for my tax dollars?

By Stephen L.Demeter, Midway Fire Chief

As the anti-tax sentiment grows around the State, occasionally a tax payer will appear at a Midway Fire District commissioners meeting and ask, "What do I get for my tax dollars?"

Our reply is very simple: Taxpayers of the Midway Fire District get state of the art, modern, full-time fire-rescue services including: fire suppression; fire prevention; haz-mat technicians; technical rescue (including water rescue, confined space, collapse and high angle rescue); disaster preparedness and emergency management; and Advanced Life Support (ALS) paramedics all available 24 hours a day; 7 days a week. Taxpayers of the district have the piece of mind knowing that when they call 9-1-1 for an emergency, they are going to get a team of our cross-trained, tricertified emergency responders who will arrive within an average of 4.5 minutes and begin to take immediate action to mitigate their emergency needs.

All line personnel are required to be tri-certified as firefighters, paramedics or EMT's, and haz-mat technicians. This gives the citizens the most bang for their buck. This proves to be the most cost effective way to deliver a wide array of services to our citizens. Your firefighters are second to none in their knowledge, skill level, and dedication to the community.

Demeter

One of our most common requests for service is for medical assistance; most modern fire departments now provide these services today. Midway staffs three units with cross-trained firefighter/paramedics. These highly trained professionals are able to arrive at your side and begin initial treatment for your medical needs including those emergencies that anyone could have at any time such as: allergic reaction, choking, heart attack, or heat exhaustion, just to name a few, all of which can be timedependent and could prove fatal if it not aggressively treated.

The concept of the paramedic program (Advanced Life Support program) has been to bring the emergency department to the patient. Our highly trained paramedics are able to provide the same initial treatment right in your home or at the site of your emergency. It is essentially the same treatment that you would receive in the emergency department. The only difference is your treatment is occurring at the scene of your event rather than you having to wait until you arrive at an emergency departmenbefore you receive emergency treatment. The district employs, by contract, a team of licensed medical physicians who oversees your treatment through protocols and, in some cases, direct consultation. In essence, you have on call available to you a physician 24 hours; 7 days a week within the Midway Fire District.

What about the cost of all this service? Let me put it in perspective. The average cost for fire districts statewide is about two mills or $2.00 per $1,000 assessed value, and not all of those districts are delivering the same high level services as the Midway Fire District. Midway currently charges 1.4 mills for its services. In order to deliver these services, the Midway Fire District employs 28 full-time certified Firefighters or about 1 firefighter for every 1,071 residents living in the Midway Fire District. There are about 30,000 residents living in the district. The district's actual operating budget in 2008 is about $3 million. Just compare that to the City of Pensacola which has a population of 53,246 and 123 certified firefighters or 1 firefighter for every 432 residents and an annual budget of $11,600,000. The point being, the peninsula is no longer a small little community with a handful of residents. The area has grown into a large suburban area with all the same hazards and risks that any other community in similar size would have.

As a resident of the community and your Fire Chief, I think Midway is still the best bargain around.