Mukilteo voters are being asked to renew the levy for Emergency Medical Services (EMS) during the August 6, 2024, primary election. The levy renewal would continue funding the EMS program, hire more emergency personnel to respond to higher call volumes, and pay for ambulance and equipment replacement.
Ballots have been mailed to voters and must be postmarked by August 6, 2024, or placed in a ballot box by 8 p.m. on Election Day to count.
EMS is the most widely-used emergency service by city residents. Medical emergencies account for 78 percent of all calls for the Mukilteo Fire Department, and call volumes are increasing. At the same time, costs to provide service are going up, while the EMS levy rate has decreased.
Fire Chief Glen Albright has seen personally how the EMS program makes a difference. In 2022, the Chief arrived at his parents’ home in Mukilteo for dinner. At first, his father informed him his mother wasn’t feeling well, but she told her son, “I’m having a heart attack.” Chief Albright immediately called 911. Paramedics arrived, were able to administer medication, and transported her to a local hospital. Chief Albright’s mother has since recovered.
Other community members have similar stories.
Julian Sharpe swam at the YMCA five days a week during his lunchtime. One day he felt dizzy and light-headed after finishing his laps. The next thing he remembers is
waking up in the hospital. He learned that he fainted when his blood pressure had fallen to a dangerously low rate. It took YMCA staff and Mukilteo firefighters eight minutes to resuscitate him. In the ambulance, he was given oxygen and medication to stabilize his heart rate.
“Nobody thinks about EMS until they need it,” said Sharpe later. “Don’t wait until you need it and find out it’s not there.”
LeRoy and Louise McNulty understand that. They have something in common other than 56 years of marriage. Both had irregular heartbeats within a year of each other that required an EMS response.
In 2022, LeRoy became unusually tired after working in the yard and went into the house to lay down. As a former firefighter of 50 years, he was checking his pulse when Louise came in. She saw him gray and pale on the couch and immediately called 911. Paramedics arrived and started an IV to administer life-saving medicine and an external heart monitor before they reached the hospital. The same thing happened to Louise one year later. “EMS saves your life,” she says.
While the city funds fire suppression through its general property tax, EMS is funded by a separate levy. Mukilteo provides both 24-hour Basic and Advanced Life Support – the highest level of pre-hospital care possible to improve patient outcomes.
Costs for everything – firefighters, equipment, ambulances, medical supplies – increase an average of five percent each year. With the city limited to a one-percent revenue increase per year, response times and service levels are facing steep challenges.
The Mukilteo Fire Department is asking voters to return the EMS levy to the previous voter-approved amount of $0.50 per $1,000. The lid lift would fund up to six more firefighters/Emergency Medical Technicians, advanced medical training, ambulances, and medical equipment and supplies.
“The takeaway from these stories is simple: EMS saves lives,” says Chief Albright. “We hope you never need it, but we want to be here if you do.” Learn more at https://mukilteowa-civil-space.civilspace.io/en/projects/ems-levy-renewal or contact Chief Albright at galbright@mukilteowa.gov or 425-263-8151.