After several years of debate, the Frederick County Volunteer Fire and Rescue Association, the Frederick County Fire and Rescue Department and the Frederick County Board of Supervisors have decided to institute a billing system for EMS transports beginning October 1, 2013.

This system is known as EMS Expense Recovery.

The reason for initiating this program is due to the large number of EMS-related incidents responded to by Frederick County. These EMS-related incidents include medical problems, personal injuries, and motor vehicle crashes.

While we continue to operate with a very limited budget, both the volunteer and career departments throughout the County have had to look at various funding alternatives.

Even though this is a new process for Frederick County, it is not for a large portion of the Commonwealth of Virginia and other parts of the country as about 80% of other jurisdictions in the country charge medical insurance carriers for ambulance transport services.  Locally, the City of Winchester and the Counties of Warren, Shenandoah, and neighboring West Virginia jurisdictions all currently charge for EMS transports.

While this program will enable us to recover some of the costs of providing these services, while also keeping taxes at an affordable rate, we will always need your help as we have in the past for the volunteer fire and rescue companies.

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