Council votes to accept outreach grant

Moses Lake could save tens of thousands by reaching out to frequent 911 callers.

MOSES LAKE — Last week, the Moses Lake City Council voted to accept a $108,000 grant from the Association of Washington Cities to help the city avoid the cost of sending out ambulance crews when medical help is not really required. According to Moses Lake Fire Chief Brett Bastian, the MLFD emergency medical service responded to 4,050 calls in 2021, of which 1,012 did not require transporting anyone. Under current Medicare rules, Bastian said ambulance calls in which no one is transported cannot be billed, and those runs cost the city roughly $1.4 million that cannot be recouped. “If the call volumes continue, we will need even more than the two new firefighters we’ve asked for,” Bastian told the city council. “We’ve seen an increase in EMS patient calls, and it’s 20% higher than it was two years ago.” ...