Crime & Safety

B-CC Rescue Squad Worries Ambulance Fees Will Affect Fundraising

Door-to-door fundraising drive underway.

This fall, residents can expect knocks on their doors from uniformed volunteer fire and rescue personnel as the Bethesda-Chevy Chase Rescue Squad's door-to-door fundraising drive kicks into full swing.

The campaign is a critical part of the group's fundraising each year because more than half of the squad's about $2 million budget comes from individual donations, according to Bob Kretzmer, vice president in charge of development at the squad.

"There's a big difference when you go to someone's door and say, 'Please help us,' versus sending them something in the mail," Kretzmer said.

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But this year, volunteer rescue personnel are wondering whether the recently passed ambulance fee legislation might deter donors from giving their dollars.

The hotly contested ambulance fee, which was passed by the Montgomery County Council in May, will allow the county to bill insurance companies $300 to $800 for ambulance transport. The B-CC Rescue Squad and other volunteer fire and rescue groups opposed the fee, because they are worried it would deter residents from dialing 911. A recent effort by the Montgomery County Volunteer Fire-Rescue Association to place a referendum on the ambulance fee on the Nov. 2 ballot was rejected by the Montgomery County Board of Elections. A lawsuit is pending.

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The fees are not yet being leveraged to insurance companies, but the law will allow retroactive billing for ambulance transport from July 1, according to Patrick Lacefield, a spokesman for Montgomery County. The county has stressed that insurance companies will pay the fees, not residents — and those without insurance will not pay.

"No one who is a county resident is going to pay anything for this," Lacefield said.

But volunteers at the B-CC Rescue Squad say the fees pose a public perception problem for the group, which is a largely independent organization whose 150 trained volunteers provide emergency and rescue response to residents free of charge.

The squad receives some training and equipment from the county, but "one of the challenges we face is getting the message out to the public that we're not primarily supported by county tax money; we're supported by individuals," Kretzmer said.

Ned Sherburne, chief of the squad, said he wondered if residents would be reluctant to give if they thought ambulance fees were going toward the ambulance service the squad provides for free.

"Intuitively, I don't know how it can't affect fundraising," Sherburne said. "B-CC Rescue Squad is not receiving a penny from this at this point. That puts us in a difficult situation. Essentially, this is an additional tax the county is leveraging, but it does not pay for the service [residents] are actually getting."

Sherburne said he had heard some initial reports from volunteer firefighters out knocking on doors that about 10 residents so far declined to give based on the ambulance fee issue.

According to Lacefield, the county is willing to discuss sharing revenue from the ambulance fees or making up the difference should the fees affect volunteers' fundraising efforts. The revenue the county gains from the fees will be earmarked for fire and rescue operations in the county and will benefit both volunteer and career fire and rescue personnel because of the county's unified fire and rescue system, he said.

"We have a unified system — volunteers are a part of Montgomery County Fire and Rescue — and they will benefit from the funds coming to Montgomery County Fire and Rescue, even absent any agreement for volunteers for specific allotments to them," Lacefield said.

Lacefield said many jurisdictions in the Washington metropolitan region bill insurance companies for ambulance transport, and county research showed it hadn't been a detriment to fundraising efforts at volunteer rescue organizations across the region.

"We did a lot of research on this," Lacefield said.

Longtime rescue squad administrative volunteer and donor Devee Schoenberg said that for her, the fees would not impact her giving. Schoenberg first became a donor when rescue squad volunteers would regularly respond to assist her aging father, who died in 2002.

This year, the rescue squad is raising funds for a new rescue squad truck — commonly referred to as a "toolbox on wheels." The new truck will replace one that at close to 150,000 miles is overdue for retirement from service.

"If anything, I would re-double my efforts," she said. "I'm giving, so we can get this truck as soon as possible."


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