08/20/2026
We need to have a much bigger conversation about how communities fund fire protection and EMS.
Because both systems are reaching the same point.
The cost of providing service continues to increase. Apparatus costs more. Ambulances cost more. Equipment costs more. PPE costs more. Medications and medical supplies cost more. Training costs more. Maintaining stations and facilities costs more. Finding and keeping qualified people is becoming harder.
Yet we still seem surprised when fire departments and ambulance services tell their communities that maintaining adequate service costs money.
Part of the problem is that people don't understand what they're actually paying for.
And I think the fire service and EMS share some responsibility for that.
For years, we assumed people understood our value.
They don't always.
A community isn't simply paying for firefighters to put out fires.
It isn't simply paying for an ambulance to transport someone to the hospital.
It is paying for readiness.
You are paying for a fire department capable of responding when your house is on fire at 2:00 a.m.
You are paying for firefighters who are trained, equipped, medically qualified, physically capable, and prepared to enter that building when someone might still be inside.
You are paying for engines that start, pumps that work, hose that passes testing, SCBA that functions, turnout gear that protects firefighters, ladders that are inspected, rescue tools that operate, radios that communicate, water supply systems that work, and command officers capable of managing the incident.
You are paying for enough trained people to actually perform the work when they arrive.
That last part matters.
A million-dollar fire engine cannot stretch its own hose.
It cannot search a bedroom.
It cannot force a door.
It cannot throw a ladder.
It cannot rescue someone from a burning building.
It cannot establish water supply.
It cannot perform rapid intervention when a firefighter gets into trouble.
People do those things.
EMS is no different.
You are paying for an ambulance that is available before anyone calls.
You are paying for EMTs, AEMTs, and paramedics who maintain their licenses, complete continuing education, train, check equipment, maintain medications and supplies, and remain ready to respond whether they run one call that day or twenty.
You are paying for cardiac monitors, medications, airway equipment, oxygen, stretchers, communications, medical oversight, quality assurance, continuing education, and the people capable of using all of it correctly.
You are paying for someone to answer when your chest pain becomes a heart attack, your child stops breathing, your spouse suffers a stroke, or a crash leaves someone critically injured.
Fire and EMS are different services, but they share one basic reality.
Readiness costs money.
And readiness has value even when nobody calls 911.
A fire department that doesn't have a structure fire for a week still has to be ready for one tonight.
An ambulance that doesn't transport anyone for six hours still has to be staffed and equipped for the cardiac arrest that could happen six minutes from now.
That is what communities are purchasing.
Capability.
Availability.
Staffing.
Training.
Equipment.
Response.
The problem is that we haven't always explained it that way.
If taxpayers believe the fire department exists only to extinguish fires, they will naturally look at the number of fires and question the expense.
If they believe EMS is simply transportation to the hospital, they will naturally look at the number of transports and question the expense.
That is an incomplete picture of both services.
The fire service handles fires, vehicle crashes, technical rescues, hazardous materials incidents, alarms, electrical emergencies, gas leaks, disasters, water emergencies, public assistance calls, and countless situations where people call because they don't know who else can solve the problem.
EMS provides emergency medicine outside the hospital, often during the first and most critical minutes of a patient's emergency.
Together, fire and EMS form a massive part of a community's emergency response system.
We also need to stop walking into budget meetings expecting elected officials and taxpayers to automatically understand this.
If we need another engine, explain why.
If we need to replace an ambulance, explain why.
If staffing is inadequate, show what that means operationally.
If response times are increasing, show the numbers.
If equipment is reaching the end of its service life, explain the consequences.
If training requirements are increasing, explain what those requirements accomplish.
If an EMS reimbursement model doesn't cover the actual cost of maintaining an ambulance service, explain the difference between reimbursement for transportation and the cost of maintaining 24/7 readiness.
And if a paid-on-call or volunteer fire department can no longer reliably put enough firefighters on the street during the day, leadership needs to be willing to say it.
There is another side to this conversation too.
Fire and EMS agencies have an obligation to earn the confidence they are asking communities to place in them.
We cannot demand increased funding while refusing to improve.
We cannot complain about staffing while refusing to change recruitment or retention practices.
We cannot talk about firefighter safety while accepting poor training attendance.
We cannot ask taxpayers for modern equipment while defending outdated operations simply because "that's how we've always done it."
And we cannot tell communities that their emergency services are good enough when we know there are deficiencies that need to be addressed.
If a community is willing to invest in better service, its fire and EMS organizations should be willing to become better services.
This shouldn't become fire versus EMS.
Both matter.
Both require people.
Both require equipment.
Both require training.
Both require funding.
Both require readiness.
And both become incredibly important when it is your family calling 911.
We need EMS reimbursement reform.
We need sustainable fire service funding.
We need serious discussions about the future of volunteer, paid-on-call, combination, career, municipal, private, and hospital-based emergency services.
We need elected officials willing to understand what adequate emergency response actually costs.
We need taxpayers to understand what their money purchases.
And we need fire and EMS leaders capable of clearly explaining it.
Stop judging a fire department's value by how many buildings burned.
Stop judging an ambulance service's value by how many people it transported.
Ask a better question.
When someone calls 911 tonight, who is coming?
How long will it take them to get there?
How many trained people will arrive?
What equipment will they bring?
And are they actually capable of handling what they find?
Those are the questions that determine what your fire and EMS system is really worth.
Because when your worst day happens, a budget number isn't coming through the door.
People are.
We need to make sure they are there.
Without volunteers response times and care will be drastically diminished, but taxes will be higher. Please take a second or two to consider if you have time for your community. All communities need volunteers to step up now more than ever to get the proper training on how to respond to the emergencies.
(Author - Kevin R. Lynch)
