The City of Reading
has contracted with a consulting firm to analyze the Fire
Departments current EMS system in hope of finding a way
to operate
the
service more efficiently. The Administration claims EMS
is running at a shortfall but apparently is not sure exactly
what that shortfall is. Losses ranging from several hundred
thousand to several million dollars have been reported
by the Mayor. The administration has reported that the
budget is short about $300,000 for 2004, noting that most
of that is from uncollected receipts.
The Ludwig
Group of Hillsboro, MO has been awarded the
contract, which is being paid for by a grant from the 2
local hospitals. Hospital officials offered the funds to
help find a way to keep the current system in place after
the City asked for money to help operate EMS.
The Ludwig Group's Managing Director,
Gary Ludwig, will visit Reading in the near future and
ride with the Paramedics and Firefighters to view the system
first hand. He recently came to Reading to get a feel for
the
operations
and the visited the EMS station. Ludwig is a retired Chief
Paramedic from the St. Louis Fire Department and past of
Director of Emergency Services for Jefferson County, Missouri.
He has also written numerous articles for a vast array
of trade publications including Firehouse Magazine and
the Journal of Emergency Medical Services. In fact, Mr.
Ludwig wrote an article about the Reading Fire Department
taking over EMS in 2001 entitled "Getting
Tossed The Keys".
