POCATELLO — As part of a broader proposal to overhaul emergency medical services in south Bannock County, Pocatello Fire Department officials are recommending the Inkom volunteer ambulance be taken out of service, citing a reliability rate of less than 30 percent.

Bannock County commissioners heard the proposal from fire department officials Tuesday, who were presenting on behalf of the Bannock County Ambulance District, which the Pocatello Fire Department oversees.

The commissioners are expected to vote on the proposal next week. The plan also calls for hiring four full-time paramedics, expanding advanced life support coverage and consolidating six coordinator positions into one regional role.

“We’re not really shutting down an ambulance service, what we’re doing is reallocating a staffed ambulance that’s not used very often from Inkom to McCammon to better serve the residents in south Bannock County and improve response times for emergencies,” interim Pocatello Fire Department Chief Shane Grow told the Idaho State Journal this week.

Pocatello Fire Department executive assistant Autumn Baker and Grow outlined the proposals during a presentation to the commissioners at the Bannock County Courthouse.

The push stems from persistent gaps in emergency service coverage in south Bannock County communities including Inkom, Lava Hot Springs and McCammon. When volunteer units are unavailable — something Baker says happens frequently — ambulances must respond from Pocatello, often taking 30 minutes to reach a patient.

“I don’t think that’s a reasonable amount of time to expect a patient to wait for ambulance service,” Baker said.

Both the commissioners and the Bannock County Ambulance District said they want to ensure south Bannock County residents who call 911 receive a prompt response.

Work on improving rural community access to emergency services has been ongoing for years.

In 2023, Rep. Mike Simpson secured funding for a new McCammon fire station through an omnibus spending package. Bannock County supplied the city with $1 million in American Rescue Plan Act funds to include an EMS ambulance bay in the new fire station, with plans to bring advanced life support service to the south county area.

In August 2023, the county received an Assistance to Firefighters Grant for training, sending seven people to paramedic school in anticipation of the new ambulance service. In September 2024, the county applied for and received a grant to purchase a new frontline ambulance, which is expected to arrive at the station in the coming weeks.

Providing proper emergency services in rural areas, particularly with volunteer crews, presents ongoing challenges.

“I think our commissioners are aware that staffing has been an ongoing challenge with volunteers down there,” Baker said. “We’ve had calls, including from my own family, being missed because of out-of-service times in the volunteer system, and that’s because it’s been the only primary response system in south county.”

South county currently relies primarily on basic life support services. EMTs operating under basic life support can monitor patients and perform certain procedures but cannot administer medications.

That means patients suffering cardiac events or significant injuries — such as a broken femur — cannot receive pain medication from an EMT and require a licensed paramedic on scene.

The most significant structural change involves the Inkom volunteer ambulance. Data presented to commissioners showed the unit responded to fewer than three out of every 10 calls in its coverage zone in fiscal year 2026. Baker and Grow recommended taking it out of service entirely and reallocating its equipment to the new McCammon station.

Data presented to commissioners showed Inkom’s unit reliability stood at just 26.9 percent in fiscal year 2026, meaning it responded to fewer than three out of every 10 calls in its coverage zone.

Fire department officials said the change could expand opportunities for Inkom volunteers. With living quarters available at the new McCammon fire station, Inkom volunteers could staff shifts there alongside career paramedics.

“We proposed to keep Lava and Downey in service, because we’ve got a good volunteer pool there, and then the amount of calls that they answer,” Baker said. “Downey is in service about 80 percent of the time and we see value in that. Our problem that we’re facing in Inkom is that they’re out of service so frequently and we have to be efficient in our resources.”

Current Inkom volunteers would retain their agency affiliations under the proposal, allowing them to maintain their EMT licensure.

The proposal also calls for covering two of three platoon shifts in McCammon with paramedics, providing advanced life support coverage four out of every six days in the south county area.

“This now provides that coverage by having medics based in McCammon,” Baker said. “We’re proposing covering two of the three platoon shifts with medics, so that gives four out of six days of coverage with medic service in the south county area.”

Baker said the expansion would be funded primarily through the Ground Emergency Medical Transportation program — a federal reimbursement program that offsets costs of transporting Medicaid and Medicare patients when reimbursements fall short of actual expenses.

“It’s not a grant,” Baker said. “It’s a federal program to offset those expenses that we incur and don’t recoup.”

The department anticipates its first Ground Emergency Medical Transportation payment of approximately $784,000 around May 15, covering nine months of fiscal year 2023. Baker said the department also applied for fiscal years 2024 and 2025, with payments of roughly $1 million each expected in December 2027.

“Our budget is about $4.7 million and half of that comes from our own generated revenue and billing that we do,” Baker said. “It’s not all tax dollars.”

Commissioners expressed interest in consulting with the mayors of Chubbuck and Pocatello before making a final decision. The fire department needs a decision by approximately May 18 to begin an academy and move forward with hiring.

Baker emphasized the importance of ensuring residents know a timely response awaits when they call 911, and that the department values its volunteers.

“They’re an asset to us,” Baker said. “When our medics arrive on scene and the volunteers are available, we definitely want to utilize that. We’d like to continue that service. We are subject to funding and staffing issues with the volunteer service, but I think interim Chief Grow is committed to seeing this through, and I know I am.”

Baker continued, “He’s heard the commission, he’s heard the volunteers, he’s heard the community and we’ve taken that all under consideration. I hope we presented the best solution that we could today. It doesn’t mean that we can’t modify it if there’s other ideas that work better, but we’re trying to make sure that we have the best service available for the residents of Bannock County.”