PARAMOUNT AMBULANCE

Photo in 2012.

PARAMOUNT AMBULANCE. Marvin Ney and his wife Maria started Paramount Ambulance in September, 2003. This followed his career as a trucking company owner and then serving as a volunteer firefighter for the Centralia-Peosta (Iowa) Fire Department. The ambulance they used was not a transport vehicle. The patient had to wait for another ambulance to transport them to the hospital. To convince the fire department to invest in such a vehicle, Neyen became qualified as an EMT. From his background in trucking logistics, he realized he could provide a better business model for patient emergency services. His wife's background as a nurse provided even more information. He became the ambulance provider for Cenralis, Peosta, and East Dubuque, Illinois. Within a month, Paramount Ambulance had two fully equipped ambulances capable of providing critical care for patients. (1)

By 2014 the company employed fifty workers and had a fleet of ten vehicles. The company responded to calls in Dubuque and Jackson counties in Iowa and Jo Daviess County in Illinois. It formed partnerships in East Dubuque, Illinois and Bellevue, Iowa. (2)

Paramount began assisting nursing homes which led to families requesting their assistance. Unlike 911 calls for an ambulance which led to fire trucks and/or other emergency vehicles arriving with sirens blaring, Paramount ambulances would keep the flashing lights on until they were close to the patient and then shut them off. This offered privacy the patients appreciated.

Improving driving safety and response time were two objectives of a $100,000 investment in 2014. Neyen purchased new on-board equipment from Zoll Data Systems, a Colorado-based developer of products for fire and EMS organizations. The RS 4000 recorded driving activity and could instruct drivers in real time. Developed over a decade, the system recorded nearly every fact about a moving ambulance including speed, G-forces, engine RPMs, the use of turn signals and the condition of the brakes. Information was recorded in a device similar to those used in airplanes to measure driver's safety performance. The on-board system, connected to a speaker behind the driver's seat alerted drivers when their speed or G-forces reached dangerous levels. High-stress situations led to dangerous driving. Other drivers on the road often did not know whether to park on the left, right, or simply stop in place and the life of a seriously wounded patient was always determined by how quickly the ambulance reaches the hospital. (3)

Beginning in September, 2014 Paramount Ambulance offered E-911 service for Jo Daviess County; emergency ground ambulance service to Iowa City, Rockford, Madison and Rochester; non-emergency transfers (local & long distance); inter-facility transfers (ie. hospital to hospital, radiation, cardiac catherizations, kidney dialysis); paramedic intercepts allow the local services to maintain patient care with our paramedic upgrade; extended care facilities service; VA hospital transfers; hospital discharges.

In 2017 the service employed over sixty EMTs and paramedics and managed a fleet of ten ambulances, three shuttles and a rapid response vehicle.

As a private ambulance service, Paramount handled its own billing service with its billing specialists. These employees had certification as CNAs, Critical Care Paramedics, and Registered Nurses. They also carried Certified Ambulance Coder certification. (4)

Most EMT training prior to 2021 had been based at hospitals or Iowa community colleges. A bill passed that year in the Iowa Legislature allowed the Iowa Department of Health and Human Services to certify ambulance services to provide initial EMT training. Paramount EMS was approved by the Iowa Department of Health and Human Services Bureau of Emergency Medical and Trauma Services as a Training Program for EMS education. Starting in May, 2021 Paramount EMS Academy offered EMT training on the campus of LORAS COLLEGE. After students completed the course, they were eligible for the National Registry of Emergency Medical Services (NREMT) cognitive and psychomotor examinations in pursuit of their certification to practice as a certified EMT. (5)

Company officials envisioned an academy as a means of developing apprenticeship programs similar to those used to fill shortages in many trades. Sandy Neyen, director of employee education and development at Paramount and another initiator of the Academy, said the program would employ an 'earn-and-learn model.’ Sponsored employees would be employed at Paramount while they attended classes at the Academy located at Loras. Sponsored students would also be provided with structured after-school education involving tutors and time in an ambulance. The class would be offered three times annually to around 20 students at a time. (6)

The Academy was created to address a serious shortfall of EMS personnel. An American Ambulance Association survey of more than 100 emergency medical services agencies nationwide found that 11% of the full-time EMT positions went unfilled in the summer of 2022. The Journal of Emergency Medical Services stated that the annual turnover for EMTs ranged from 20% to 30% resulting in an estimated 20,700 EMT and paramedic positions being open annually. Andy Ney, director of operations at Paramount and active in the Iowa EMS Association, was one of those who helped establish the Academy at Loras. At the time the Paramount EMS Academy was opened, he stated his company had nine open full-time positions.

Dr. Molly Figgins, program initiator and director of the graduate athletic training program at Loras, saw benefit to her program as Loras as well. Citing the fact that athletic trainers and EMTs work together in real life, embedding EMS programming into the athletic training program would fit naturally.

Photo credit: Ruth Lyon and Photo enhancement: Larry Hoelscher

On December 3, 2024 Larry Hoelscher (left) and Randy Lyon, state vice-president of the Iowa Society of the Sons of the American Revolution, honored the staff of Paramount EMS Academy. Pictured are three of the four staff members from Paramount and Dr. Molly Figgins of Loras. There were four EMTs honored with SAR / EMT certificates and medals. Dr. Figgins received a Certificate of Appreciation for her role in establishing the program and her continued encouragement of its growth.

In Dubuque the service was located in 2012 at 3rd & Locust. The service expanded a rented property at 1425 Cedar Street and finally to 5070 Wolff Road along with maintaining the Cedar Street address for downtown coverage as well as Wisconsin or Illinois..

Additional information may be obtained online at: https://www.pemsacademy.com/

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Source:

1. Salwolke, Scott, "Following Grandma's Advice," bisTimes.biz OnLine: https://tharchive-carnegiestout-org.ezproxy.dubuque.lib.ia.us:2145/ResCarta-Web/jsp/RcWebImageViewer.jsp?doc_id=76d75574-3467-4ecf-9df4-c2b7da149f1e/ResCarta/00000005/00019497

2. Montgomery, Jeff, "A Safer Emergency Ride," Telegraph Herald, March 16, 2014, p. 19

3. Ibid.

4. Ney, Alicia, "Who Pays for the Ambulance Anyway?," The Golden View, June 2017, p. 1

5. Phelps, Beckie, "Paramount Ambulance Partners with Loras College to Offer EMS Education," KCRG Online: https://www.kcrg.com/2023/03/30/paramount-ambulance-partners-with-loras-college-offer-ems-education/

6. Ibid.