The bottom line is the price of ambulance service in Burnett County is going up, the question now is how much and how will service be impacted.

Citing a dramatic decline in the number of transports its ambulances are carrying, North Ambulance has proclaimed it has to raise prices to remain viable in Burnett County.

The ambulance service gets about half its funding through patient transports.

"The closing of Capeside Cove nursing home was more significant than we first thought," Director of North Ambulance Services Pat Coyne said.

Capeside accounted for about 100 runs a year — almost half the projected transport deficit for the year.

Looking at their 2009 budget, ambulance officials researched seven or eight different models on how they could cut costs while retaining good, timely service.

In the end, they decided on two options which include keeping the service the way it is now, with staffed ambulance bases in Webster and Grantsburg plus volunteer bases in Danbury and A&H or keep the services in Webster, Grantsburg and A&H and close Danbury.

The first option calls for an additional $13 per capita increase while the second option is a $7 increase.

"We looked at other models with different staffing options, but the price was pretty staggering," Coyne said.

The county, which serves as a contact point between North Ambulance and the 24 individual townships and villages which contract for ambulance coverage, called for a meeting last week to discuss the options.

"It's important we meet to discuss our options prior to the 120-day renewal period," county board chairman Phil Lindeman explained.

The yearly contract stipulates any changes must be in place 120 days before the current contract expires. The contract runs from Jan. 1 to Dec. 31.

Some representatives at the meeting could see the writing on the wall for the future.

"If there's a continual drop in runs, does this annual increase happen every year?" Sand Lake Township clerk Peggy Tolbert queried.

"Yes, it does," was Coyne's reply.

Coyne said several issues were raised in the process of deciding on the final two options, including staffing concerns at Danbury and A&H.

"Our number of volunteers is dwindling," Coyne said, "and that isn't unique to rural areas — it's happening everywhere."

"We acknowledge the fact A&H is thin on staff and we're not comfortable with that situation," Coyne commented.

He said North's plan is to always have three ambulances on duty even if A&H is out-of-service because there is no staff to handle a call.

"If needed, we would have two EMTs from Webster man a rig," Coyne said.

"We even looked at closing both Danbury and A&H and building a station in Webb Lake," he offered. "But the price was too huge."

Even if the municipalities decided to go with the lower rate and close the Danbury station, Coyne didn't believe it would mean sacraficing service.

"I think having Danbury serviced out of the Webster station is a good solution," he continued.

"As long as they (the drivers) know where they are going," Swiss Town Chair Terry Nelson pointed out.

Coyne said they were going to outfit the ambulances with in-car mapping to aid in that situation.

Coyne also said they did some time studies and even if the Danbury station were to be closed and an ambulance had to respond from Webster, it only added a minute and a half to the run.

"But when someone's having a heart attack, that minute and a half can be the difference between life or death," Tolbert countered.

The argument seemed to carry a lot of weight.

With 15 of the county's 24 villages and municipalities represented, a straw vote indicated most were in favor of maintaining service the way it is, meaning an increase from $19 per capita this year to $32 next year, an almost 60 percent increase.

The new rate would go in effect for the 2009 contract.

However, a caveat to the entire plan cropped up when the possibility of the Danbury building housing the ambulance service being sold was revealed.

"The towns people directed us to sell the building at our last annual meeting," Nelson explained.

"I knew there'd be a problem for the ambulance service because that building is where they are housed," he continued. "But I don't think the people would want to lose the service."

"If you lose the building, the decision will be made for us —  we'll have to go with option number two," Lindeman pointed out.

Coyne agreed.

"We can't afford to build a building to house them," he said.

Nelson said the Swiss Town Board will meet Aug. 12 and he said the ambulance service will be on the agenda.