Committee adds $300 paramedic-intercept fee to municipal code to bill when CFD paramedics ride on non-CFD ambulances

The Finance Committee on March 16 adopted Bill 80-69 to add a definition for "paramedic intercept" to the municipal code and to set a $300 fee when Charleston Fire Department paramedics provide advanced life support to patients aboard non-CFD ambulances.

Staff explained the change is intended for instances when another agency'for example a county ambulance'lacks an on-board paramedic and a CFD paramedic rides along to provide ALS. "This is for instances when our CFD paramedics need to provide advanced life support on an ambulance that is not a CFD ambulance," staff said, adding, "So this would allow us to be able to begin billing for those instances ... with the fee set at $300." The bill allows billing the patient directly or arranging mutual-aid agreements through which the intercepting agency could be billed.

Committee members asked whether staff had quantified projected revenue from the new charge. Staff replied the amount was not calculated: "We did not qualify that amount," staff said in response to the question. The city manager similarly noted the city has experienced increased intercepts but that a precise revenue projection was not available in the meeting record.

The bill was adopted by voice vote. After the meeting, staff outlined next steps including creating the billing process and providing revenue estimates to the committee after the fee has been in operation.