Throughout our meetings, the Commission of 17 members raised concerns about the process Maine EMS, an office of the Department of Public Safety, would follow to distribute these funds. Our concerns focused on the rulemaking process the agency would follow and how long that process would take before funds were distributed.

Under the original legislation that established the funding, approximately $12 million of the program’s funds were supposed to go as direct financial assistance to struggling EMS agencies. Although the law does not require the establishment of rules to manage this disbursement, Maine EMS still went ahead and created them.

This was worrying for the commission, which made the recommendation pass legislation to completely remove the rulemaking process from the equation. We wanted to ensure these funds flowed to state EMS agencies as quickly as possible, without too much bureaucracy.

The remaining $19 million was to be used to finance the Maine project. EMS training centers ($1 million) and sustainability grants that addressed the long-term needs of these agencies ($17.1 million). The rest, about $850,000, was for four temporary positions at Maine EMS to administer the program. The agency was tasked under this part of the program with adopting rules to this effect.

Unfortunately, recent news that infighting within Maine EMS prevented the disbursement of these funds to our EMS providers highlights the Commission’s concerns. And now the new rules that were released by the agency in August indicate that the funds will be spent in a completely different way than what was originally proposed in the legislation.

In essence, we were right on several fronts. First, these funds should have already been paid. Second, these new rules were developed amid bureaucratic infighting, without any legislative or public input. While public hearings were held earlier this month, after the proposed rules were released, I don’t think the public was even aware of them.

That’s not how it’s supposed to work; and it’s terrible.

When we passed LD 1859 During the 130th Legislature, he initially created the Maine Emergency Medical Services Community Grant Program with $200,000 in seed funding. Routine technical rules had to be developed by Maine EMS to administer it. Yet during Commission meetings, we were alarmed to learn that the agency had failed to do so.

At several meetings, many committee members, including myself, expressed our frustration that this crucial program and its associated funding were not available to EMS entities despite its enactment by the Legislature ago more than two years. This also made us doubt that Maine EMS and the Maine EMS Council he himself had the capacity to carry out his duties under Maine law. This failure certainly cast a bad light on both authorities.

When the commission ended and we published our report in Januarywe expected Maine EMS and its board to right the ship. Fast forward to today and it appears they have failed yet again.

According to media reports76 agencies missed funding entirely due to a tedious grant process. And $19 million went unused for another year due to inaction caused by disagreement over what to do with the remaining funds. Some members want the entire amount to be paid to the agencies while others want to invest $9 million in the training centers.

This is perhaps the most confusing of all. Part A, section A-29 of the biennial budget explicitly provided that one million dollars would be devoted to training. That’s it.

And since the end of our commission, we have also learned that the Occupational Safety and Health Administration wants to impose a new set of professional working rules for first responders. This not only puts many volunteer departments at risk, but also undoubtedly requires additional investment in equipment and training.

But until these rules are passed, Maine EMS needs to get rid of its own incompetent bureaucracy and do its job now. Those who need EMS services depend on it.

Copy story link