Future of Ambulance Services in Flux in Floyd, Chickasaw Counties

Officials in both Chickasaw and Floyd counties are working out details on the future of ambulance services for their residents.

Chickasaw County supervisors last week approved the possible final draft of a 28E agreement they would enter into with each individual city in the county to help fund a public, county-run ambulance.

New Hampton Mayor Bobby Schwickerath says it will take a collaborative effort to provide a service municipalities are not required  to provide.

The cities represented on the Chickasaw County Ambulance Council meet Tuesday night to consider the 28E agreements with the County.

In Floyd County, both the County and the City of Charles City are in the final year of a three-year contract in which they subsidize service with AMR Ambulance for about $100,000 a year each. Whether or not that partnership continues, officials would like to see a resolution passed to declare Emergency Medical Services (EMS) like ambulances essential.

That would allow the County to help pay for EMS by assessing a tax levy, which Charles City Mayor Dean Andrews recognizes isn’t ideal, but may be necessary.

For EMS to be declared essential and allow for the tax levy, the measure would need to pass by a 60% majority vote this November.