Ambulance service grateful for donations in 2018

WORLAND – Washakie County Ambulance Director Luke Sypherd, a national certified paramedic with a bachelor’s degree in paramedicine and a master’s degree in emergency management, reported on Wednesday that the county ambulance service answered 963 requests in 2018, with 746 patients transported for medical services.

The ambulance service, not funded by a mill levy but funded through the county general fund, relies greatly on private donations and grants to operate, and received $20,000 in private funding in 2018.

“We are very grateful to the donors,” said Sypherd, who especially thanked the seven entities who contributed to keeping the service running.

Those contributors included Wal Mart of Cody, the Newell Sargent Foundation of Worland, along with the Kiwanis Club, the City of Worland, St. Alban’s Born-Again Clothing, the state Healthcare Preparedness Program and the Wyoming Office of Emergency Medical Services.

“We always have funding needs, and can always use more qualified staff,” noted Sypherd, who pointed out that the county currently has 22 emergency medical personnel.

“We will also be offering advanced EMT classes this year to our staff, to expand our capabilities for the county,” said Sypherd.

After a county study in 2018, it was determined that the county’s base rate for ambulance callout services was 48.5 percent lower than privatized counties (including Big Horn, Park, Hot Springs and Fremont counties). The county currently holds an average of callout-to-scene time of 9.32 minutes, with an average enroute-to-scene time of just 5.09 minutes.

Currently, Worland has two ambulances stationed at the county health department, and two at the county fairgrounds.