A sign requesting voter support for Bay Ambulance is seen outside the Bay Ambulance garage on M-38 in Baraga recently. Ben Garbacz/Daily Mining Gazette

The ballots for Baraga, L’Anse, Covington, Arvon and Laird Townships within Baraga County on Aug. 6’s Primary will ask voters if they wish to increase millage rates to sustain the Bay Ambulance service.

The increase will vary by the individual township. The increase in revenue for the Bay Ambulance will seek to quell the stress put on Bay Ambulance from increasing costs of employee pay, equipment and insurances needed to run efficiently. Examples of the increase in costs are a new ambulance, which has risen well over $200,000 within the past 17 years, and vehicle insurance which cost $5,000 in 2004 ended up costing Bay Ambulance $36,000 in 2023.

“It will pretty much double the amount of revenue we receive from township subsidies,” Director of Bay Ambulance Gary Wadaga said.

Wadaga mentioned that Bay Ambulance receives 2% funding from the Keweenaw Bay Indian Community and occasional grant revenue. However, these two sources are grossly underfunded, according to Wadaga, and the millage can boost the efficiency of services.

The paramedic staffing of Bay Ambulance is made up of three full-time paramedics and two part-time paramedics but is short by three full-time paramedics. This has made it difficult for the paramedics to be able to live normal lives since they must remain at a reactionary distance from the Bay Ambulance facility in order to respond to emergency calls. The three that work for Bay Ambulance are on-call for 96 hours uninterrupted.

“It’s a model that’s not sustainable,” Wadaga said. “Three people can’t do 96 hours straight. That gives them no quality of life outside of work. So the money (from the millage) will be used to help support the payroll for three additional paramedics.”

The Bay Ambulance is currently running a course through the Upper Peninsula Health System’s School of EMT with five paramedics in attendance. These individuals are from the local community and will complete the course in October, but they will need funding to support their salaries and to make the pay attractive for more potential workers.

As the training and search for new workers continues, the current employees of Bay Ambulance have experienced much hardship. Due to the closing of the hospital in Ontonagon County, several of its residents are being brought to and treated at Baraga County Memorial Hospital. Those in critical condition are transferred to the hospital in Marquette. The need to assist Ontonagon County has Bay Ambulance performing intercepts with SONCO Ambulances which adds to their workload and has lead to the rise in inner facility transfers which demands more time from the paramedics and resources, such as gasoline for the ambulances.

The struggles have transpired very recently. From July 24 to 27, Bay Ambulance had 35 calls for 911 assistance and transfers to hospitals. Three times that calls were made all three ambulances were responding to other calls. The low amount of paramedics has stifled the availability of responsiveness to aid the Baraga region of Copper Country.

Transport times can amount to 30 or more minutes due to the size of the region Bay Ambulance covers. The longer the distance is from the hospital, the more treatment the paramedics are likely to need to administer.

“EMS (emergency medical services) is the first line of treatment for many patients,” Wadaga said. “When we go there, it’s essentially an emergency room on wheels.”

Wadaga is hopeful for the results of the election regarding the millage, but encourages residents of Baraga County to go out and vote.

“We’re cautiously optimistic,” he said. “We really think we do a top-notch job in the community, in not only providing EMS but also other services.”

Wadaga pointed to the examples of Camp 911, joint trainings with the hospital and the medical classes that they teach, such as CPR and first aid.