EMS Sustainability Trust Account
In May of 2007, the volunteer ambulance service in Hanna, Wyoming, ceased operations, creating a gap in emergency medical services (EMS) coverage in eastern Carbon County. Convinced that the EMS assessment process Carbon County had engaged in was valuable and could offer solutions for designing sustainable EMS systems throughout Wyoming, Representative Jeb Steward introduced legislation to assist Wyoming’s EMS in conducting similar assessments. The EMS Sustainability Trust Account was established through Enrolled Act No. 94 of the 2009 General Session of the Wyoming Legislature. This act created W.S. 33-36-115 within the “Wyoming Emergency Medical Services Act of 1977” and provided authority and funding to the Department of Health, Public Health Division, Office of Emergency Medical Services (OEMS) to provide two types of grants:
- Grants for needs assessments to determine possible solutions (a master plan) for sustaining emergency medical services (EMS) in a local community or service area;
- Grants to assist a community in implementing a master plan after a needs assessment has been conducted.
Through the legislative action, two accounts were established:
- An interest-bearing account (corpus account) with $500,000 as an initial appropriation. The corpus account exists as an “investment” account to accrue interest. The original $500,000 cannot be expended.
- An income account for the deposit of interest from the corpus account, with an initial appropriation of $50,000.
Needs Assessment Grant
Applications may be submitted from April 1st through June 30th of each year. Needs Assessment Grant Applications may be submitted to Susan Neugebauer at susan.neugebauer@wyo.gov
Needs_Assessment_Grant_Application
Needs_Assessment_Addendum_Agency_Application
If you or your area is considering submitting an application for a needs assessment grant, please be aware that the Rural-Urban Commuting Area (RUCA) maps have been updated.
Click this link to get the updates:
https://www.census.gov/geo/maps-data/maps/2010ref/st56_tract.html
FAQs
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Question: We have multiple ambulance stations in the application area. Do we need to complete an addendum for each station?
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Answer: No. If all the stations operate under the same business license, they should be considered a single service.
- Question: We have staff members who are paid an on-call wage to stand by, and are then paid a full wage if they respond to a call. Where in Section II of the application should we identify these persons?
- Answer: Staff in this category should be counted as volunteers.
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Question: We have some staff who function only as drivers. Where should they be listed?
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Answer: Simply include them in the “Total # of Volunteers” or “Total # of Paid Staff”, whichever is most appropriate.
- Comment: A question was raised regarding the Rural-Urban Commuting Areas (RUCA) and how to determine the boundaries of the RUCA and the political subdivisions within it.
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Question: Is an applicant required to obtain signatures from every “political subdivision” when the RUCA(s) contain multiple “special districts,” particularly those that are related to public utilities or multiple school districts?
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Answer: Both the statute and rules refer to “involved political subdivisions”. We interpret this to mean “those political subdivisions involved in the delivery of Emergency Medical Services. Therefore, the applicant’s focus should be directed towards towns, cities, and counties, as well as any special districts that are key stakeholders in the delivery of EMS. Examples of this type of special district would include fire districts and healthcare districts. In contrast, while a school district is certainly a recipient of EMS, it is not typically involved in the system design or administration of EMS.
Final Reports
- Powell Valley Hospital EMS – Assessment of Emergency Medical Services April 2023
- North Big Horn Hospital EMS – Assessment of Emergency Medical Services April 2023
- Niobrara County – Assessment of Emergency Medical Services April 2022
- Albin – Assessment of Emergency Medical Services October 2020
- Burns – Assessment of Emergency Medical Services October 2020
- Pine Bluffs – Assessment of Emergency Medical Services October 2020
- Johnson County – Assessment of Emergency Medical Services February 2020
- Star Valley – Assessment of Emergency Medical Services September 2017
- South Lincoln County, Kemmerer – Assessment of Emergency Medical Services September 2017
- Sublette County – Assessment of Emergency Medical Services, November 2016
- Campbell County – Assessment of Emergency Medical Services, June 2016
- Sweetwater County – Assessment of Emergency Medical Services, December 2015 Report
- Fremont County – Assessment of Emergency Medical Services, May 2015
- Carbon County – Assessment of Carbon County Wyoming, May 2008