Charges for basic life support for residents OK’d by Paris Town Board

paris-fd-doorParis resident will be charged $450 for basic life support services from the Paris Fire and Rescue Department, after action taken by the Town Board Tuesday.

In the past, residents were not charged for basic life support services.

Non residents will be charged $550 under the resolution adopted Tuesday.

Instituting a charge for residents was something suggested by the town’s new emergency medical service billing company. Company representatives told town officials that the lack of any fee for residents could present a legal exposure and an opening for a lawsuit. The town’s attorney agreed.

“It’s not that the town can’t afford or doesn’t want to provide free ambulance service, its a legality,” said Supervisor Ron Kammerzelt.

A resident who does not have insurance and cannot pay the full bill can find some relief through a provision of the resolution, Kammerzelt said.

The resident fee could not be a token fee but had to be somewhat comparable to the non-resident fee, officials said.

About one-third of the town’s total emergency medical service calls are for residents. Largely due to I-94’s proximity to Paris, about two-thirds of the town’s EMS calsl are for non-residents.

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3 Comments

  1. James says:

    Legality? Since 1986 the Town residents have NEVER been charged for services. And, I do not believe the town has EVER had any type of lawsuit because of it. It’s easy for Kammerzelt to say what he said last night – he’s not a retired farmer paying his own insurance, and, let me tell you that the rent I’m getting on my property doesn’t allow me to by the best insurance. I believe he retired from Pleasant Prairie. Do those three guys REALLY care about the people that live here? There’s “supposed” to be over 20 million dollars still in the bank somewhere; how much money would we be talking about for rescue service for town people? Are any of these guys up for election in 2014? They seem to be against development; against people building houses; against business; but FOR the people paying more and more and more.

  2. Resident says:

    I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again – when we first started the whole fire department and rescue squad, it was said that we would NOT charge residents. Again, what does THAT say about the integrity and honesty of the town board members?! It says just what people have been thinking for years!!!

  3. James says:

    Which residents will be charged? Some people get charged for fire calls and some don’t. Some people get fined for fire calls and some don’t. Will rescue calls be charged to everyone or just a few? Once again, I would have to ask – what’s going on with the money that’s supposed to be sitting in the bank. How do they intend on spending that? If the town can’t afford to pay the residents rescue calls, as they have in the past, then, how can they afford to buy a new rescue squad? Considering that, according to Gentz in the Kenosha News, only 1/3 of the calls are Paris residents, why then are WE getting penalized and paying for the whole squad? None of this makes any sense and I would hope that before they really start charging people, they take a good, hard look at what they’re doing. They’re making the residents pay more in taxes already this year, now, they’re charging for rescue calls as well!

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