The Maries-Osage Ambulance District (MOAD) Board recently reorganized and reelected officers. Board President Don Lanning of Maries County agreed to continue in that position as did Steve Maxwell of Osage County who serves the board as vice-president. Both Lanning and Maxwell were sworn in at the meeting. Longtime Secretary Wilma Stephen of Maries County also agreed to continue in that capacity. The motion was made by board member Laura Stratman and seconded by board member Victor Stratman and all voted in favor.

In other business at the MOAD August board meeting:

• MOAD Administrator Brian Opoka reported on ambulance response and on-the-scene times recorded during July. For the month the average response time from when the crews are dispatched out until they arrive on the scene is 9.18 minutes with the longest response time being 26.6 minutes. Opoka said the call that took the longest amount of time to get on scene was a transfer call.

He reported the average on scene time was 3.99 minutes. The longest on scene time was 59.28 minutes and it was a fire standby. The average time for the crew to get back into service after dropping off a patient at the hospital was 58 minutes. The longest was 61.4 minutes.

• Opoka and the board discussed the T-Mobile program that they are giving back to first responder agencies. Currently the district does not have cell phones but they have sim cards in each computer monitor that allows the paramedic to send the EKG strips to the hospital so the emergency room doctor can look at it before the patient arrives in the ambulance. He told the board the district currently pays about $110 a month in cell phone service each month. With this program, the district could save up to $7,680 over a five-year period. Opoka said he looked up the coverage in the service area. In Vienna the coverage is excellent and in Freeburg it states it is good. However, going a half mile out of either town, it does not have good service. The board members thought it was best to stay with AT&T.

• Opoka informed the board members about EMS license fees. The state has made cut backs to various departments and the Bureau of EMS was one of them. Now the bureau is going to start charging when people get their licenses and when they renew the licenses. EMT licenses will cost $25 every five years, and paramedics will cost $30. The ground service license for the ambulance districts will cost $100 and are good for five years. Opoka said there has been some talk about volunteer services not having to pay for relicensing and he will check into this.

• With the recent voter approval of Medicaid expansion in Missouri, which will become effective July 2020, Opoka said they are predicting that 30 percent of people who currently do not have health insurance will go on Medicaid. He said this will help with collections from people who are self-pay.

• Lynn Graves with Graves and Associates presented via telephone the audit for the year ending Dec. 31, 2019. Graves said the only thing there is an issue with and has been in the past, is the district is so small the checks the district receives in the mail do not go through a couple of person’s hands before they are deposited into the bank. It is a checks and balance issue. Otherwise, Graves said the audit looks really good and they found no issues during the auditing process.

• In old business, Opoka reported MOAD sent in a request to both Osage and Maries counties requesting to be able to purchase two of the AeroClave RDS31010 machines for each county. Stratman said the Maries County Commission has approved the request for Maries County. The machines sanitize the ambulances after a patient is transported. This is in response to the Covid-19 coronavirus.

• In the financial report the board approved payment of the bills.

Office Manager Carla Butler reported July income of $45,951.49 and total expenses for the month of $63,050.40 for a net income of negative $17,098.91. Opoka said the negative balance was due to having three pay periods during the month.

Of the income, $562 was Maries County taxes, $52.36 Osage County taxes, $28,454.36 in service fees, $16,848.41 sales tax and $34.36 interest income.

The district has saving of $153,594.46, an ambulance savings fund of $63,223.44, and $67,381.87 in the checking account.