MLFD, MLPD receive community grants

MOSES LAKE — Both the Moses Lake Fire Department and the Moses Lake Police Department have received significant grants to help the two agencies improve non-emergency community service.

The MLFD has received a grant of $108,688 from the Association of Washington Cities to fund an alternative response to 911 ambulance calls that don’t require transporting a patient. Under current insurance regulations, the city – which runs an ambulance service – cannot bill to cover the cost of sending EMTs out on a medical call if they do not transport anyone to a hospital or other care facility.

“Medicare still treats EMS as transportation rather than health care,” MLFD Chief Brett Bastian told council members during a meeting in late November.

The grant will allow the city to hire a non-uniformed person to help identify frequent callers, provide them with assistance and services and look at ways to help meet their needs, freeing up uniformed personnel to handle medical emergencies, according to a press release from the City of Moses Lake.

Moses Lake is one of 19 cities across the state that have been awarded a total of $1.9 million in grants from the AWC under the organization’s Alternative Response Team Program, according to the release.

In addition, the MLPD has received a $5,000 grant from Gesa Credit Union’s Local Heroes Grant Program. According to MLPD Chief Kevin Fuhr, the grant money will be used to help fund the department’s BlueBridge program, which provides police officers with pre-paid debit cards to help people in difficult situations.

“It will go to help people in need,” Fuhr said.

Since the MLPD began participating in the BlueBridge program earlier this year, Fuhr said officers have been able to help people stranded in Moses Lake buy bus tickets out of town and fill up their gas tanks, as well as help people in difficult circumstances get food and clothing. Fuhr said the MLPD was even able to help a Special Olympics athlete after some of his things had been stolen from a parked car.

“It comes in handy,” Fuhr said.

Under the rules of the BlueBridge program, which was launched by the Kennewick Police Department in 2015, police departments must raise all of the money they need to keep the program going. For more information, check out the BlueBridge Alliance website at bluebridgealliance.org.

Charles H. Featherstone may be reached at cfeatherstone@columbiabasinherald.com.