(a) Establishment of Service. Emergency medical service shall be provided and maintained by the City of Martinsburg Fire Department. Such emergency medical service shall be utilized for emergencies only and shall not be used in cases where no emergency exists. The City Council shall provide the necesary vehicles, equipment, and maintenance thereof for such service, all within the limits of the budget of the City.
(b) Rules and Regulations. The City shall follow West Virginia State Code and the rules and regulations of the West Virginia Office of Emergency Medical Services as it pertains to providing emergency medical services. The City Manager and/or Fire Chief, with the approval of City Council, shall have the authority to promulgate and enforce reasonable rules and regulations for the purpose of carrying out and enforcing the terms and provisions of this section.
(c) Fees for Service.
(1) Fees for Emergency Medical Services rendered by the Martinsburg Fire Department are hereby fixed as follows:
Procedure | Fee |
A. Basic Life Support, Emergency & Non Emergency | $650.00 |
B. Advanced Life Support, Emergency & Non Emergency | 850.00 |
C. Advanced Life Support II, Emergency | 1000.00 |
D. Basic Life Support Mileage | 15.00 per mile |
E. Advanced Life Support Mileage | 15.00 per mile |
F. Extra Attendant (CPR, patient lifting, etc.) | 95.00 |
(2) The City Council shall have the right to revise from time to time the schedule of fees enacted herein.
(d) Collection of Fees.
(1) The City Manager, with the approval of City Council, is hereby authorized to adopt such rules and regulations as may be necessary in order to bill and collect Emergency Medical Service fees, including but not limited to the right to contract with outside billing and/or collection services.
(2) The Fire Department personnel manning the emergency service equipment shall keep a daily record or log of each trip made and the name and address of the person or persons receiving emergency medical service. Either the original or a copy of such record or log shall be certified to the Finance Director by the supervisor of the Fire Department whose personnel furnishes such emergency medical service.
(3) The Finance Director shall be responsible for supervising the billing and collection of Emergency Medical Service fees. Whenever, in the judgment of the Finance Director, based upon reliable information obtained or received from the billing agent or other sources, any account receivable created under this chapter is uncollectible or the cost of collection would not be economically justified, the Finance Director may, at his discretion, remove or authorize the removal of said accounts receivable by designating such accounts as “uncollectible” and removing them from current account records. A review of said accounts by the Finance Director for this purpose should occur on a quarterly basis, based on the City’s fiscal year. If the Finance Director determines that he is unable to collect the Emergency Medical Service fee billed because the person receiving the service is financially unable to pay same, he shall certify such fact to the City Manager. The City Manager shall have full and complete authority to reduce the amount billed for emergency medical service to an amount that can be paid by the person receiving such service, or to order the Finance Director to cancel the amount billed as an “uncollectible” account.
(Ord. 2023-03. Passed 5-9-23.)