Vote YES for Pateros EMS

Last April the EMS levy titled Proposition 1 Emergency Medical Care or Emergency Medical Services appeared on the April 28 Special Election ballot along with four other measures dealing with EMS, fire, and hospital services around the area.

All but the Pateros levy passed.

The Pateros EMS failed by seven votes according to the final figures posted on the Okanogan County Auditor’s elections results page. Of the 107 votes cast, the No’s numbered 57 or 53.27 percent as opposed to the 50 Yes votes that accounted for the remaining 46.73 percent.

The Pateros city council, anticipating such an event at its April 2020 regular meeting, pre-approved the measure to meet the filing deadline to appear once again on the August 4 ballot in the event it failed to pass in April.

The levy asks for voters to approve $.50 (50 cents) or less per $1,000 or property valuation for the next six years beginning in 2021.

EMS services are a vital piece of public health and safety because when they are needed a life can hang in the balance and be spared or lost dependent upon how fast proper medical care can be administered. The thing is, you never know when you or a family member will need this critical intervention because medical emergencies are almost never pre-planned events.

If the Pateros EMS levy fails this time around the city and its residents will lose that service.

I know times are tough, particularly for a community that was hit hardest by the 2014 Carlton Complex wildfire and is still trying to recover from those losses. The last thing you need is another obligation, however minor, on top of the challenges and uncertain economic future riding the coattails of the COVID-19 pandemic.

But you need this service, citizens. Each and every one of you matters far too much to allow your lives to be put at additional risk because a life-saving service is not available when you most need it.

Please, vote YES for EMS.

Mike Maltais opinions are not the official views of NCW Media. To reach him qchreporter@gmail.com. Any email is subjected to publication as a “letter to the editor” unless explicitly requested not to do so.