In February 1972, the Lee County Board of County Commissioners (BoCC) took over the operations of Southern Ambulance Service and renamed it Lee County Ambulance Service. The service started with four ambulances and approximately 12 employees. In 1975, the ambulance service name was changed to Lee County EMS (LCEMS) and became a Florida licensed Advanced Life Support Provider. LCEMS was unionized in 1997.

LCEMS covers more than 1,000 square miles, including 75 islands where only four islands have road access. LCEMS currently operates 30 Advanced Life Support (ALS) ambulances, a twinengine helicopter, 2 ALS non-transport units, a paramedic bicycle team. LCEMS has interlocal agreements with 4 Lee County fire districts/departments providing ALS first response to emergency medical calls. In FY 2004, Lee County EMS was dispatched to more than 60,000 emergency calls and the air ambulance (Medstar) transported more than 600 patients.

Each EMS ambulance consists minimally of a State-certified Paramedic and EMT. LCEMS Paramedics and EMTs work under the direction of Emergency Physicians, and provide care onscene and during transport to the most appropriate medical facility.

LCEMS has for 20 years, provided an on-going comprehensive training program for its employees. The training incorporates every aspect of medical specialties common to prehospital emergency medical care. The department actively pursues grant monies to support special programs within EMS. Since 1990, EMS has received over four million dollar in grants.

The department has been recognized nationally for innovative programs such as the EMS Helicopter Program, Sudden Infant Death Syndrome Watch Program, Age Link Program, Community Health Program, Automatic External Defibrillator 3 Public Facility Program, Learn to Swim Program and Florida’s Best Business & Educational Partnership Excellence Award. In 1987, the National Emergency Medical Technician Association selected the LCEMS for the prestigious ALS Service of the Year Award.

Funding

Most EMS programs systems are funded by a combination of public and/or privatefunds. Primary revenue streams include governmental subsidy via tax dollars andfees generated by providing service.

The LCEMS program is funded by monies assessed by ad valorem taxes and grantsfrom the Federal, State and County governments. Fees for services are alsocharged. Ambulance transport fees were recently modified and approved by theLee County Board of Commissioners in May 2005 as cited in Resolution 05-03-15.

Fees for service revenue come from five main sources: Medicare, Medicaid, privateinsurance companies, private paying patients, and special service contracts. Ratesof payment, in general, are based on customary charges and the prevailing chargein the area. However, rules vary significantly among insurance carriers, andpayments can be affected by what neighboring EMS systems charge.

MPDS

LCEMS with the support of the Emergency Dispatch Center use MPDS to improve LCEMS response by safely prioritizing responses. MPDS allows Lee County to:

• Allocate limited resources more effectively and optimize their use.
• Ensure availability of these resources for medical conditions that require short response times and the highest level of clinical capability.
• Reduce the number of ALS lights and siren responses for minor injuries that can be effectively managed by a lower level of medical response.