Medic One Levy Revived as Compromise Ends Kirkland's Standoff

A proposal to put reauthorization of King County’s highly regarded Medic One system on the fall ballot has been given a jolt of life with a compromise Wednesday that ended fears the city of Kirkland would veto the plan.

Kirkland officials agreed to a compromise during a meeting of the King County Regional Policy Committee on a proposed ordinance that would put on the November ballot a tax levy reauthorizing of the live-saving service for six years. The compromise will allow a study of whether the Kirkland Fire Department can become one in the system that employs paramedics.

Medic One is a coordinated life-saving service by 30 fire departments and 20 hospitals that is said to result in King County having one of the highest heart-attack survival rates in the nation at 52 percent.

Nine cities with populations greater than 50,000 have veto power over region-wide tax levies, including Kirkland. Kirkland officials balked at the initial proposal because, they say, it would have prohibited any change in who can be a Medic One paramedic provider. King County, Seattle, Bellevue, Shoreline, Redmond and Vashon Island are the only paramedic providers in the system, and Kirkland wants the option as well.

“We removed the restrictions on any new agency being a paramedic provider during the course of the levy,” Kurt Triplett, Kirkland city manager, said Thursday. “For us, that was extremely restrictive. All we wanted was a pathway to becoming a paramedic provider.”

Two Medic One paramedics are stationed at EvergreenHealth Medical Center in Kirkland, but they are employed by the Redmond Fire Department. The Shoreline and Bellevue fire departments both employ paramedics.

The dispute flared earlier this week when the leaders of five firefighters’ union locals criticized Kirkland, claiming it was seeking a “money-grab” that jeopardized reauthorization of the essential service.

Kirkland City Councilmember Penny Sweet, chair of the council’s Public Safety Committee, said Kirkland’s goals were only to improve the city’s ability to provide life-saving services to its residents.

“As a city of over 50,000 (annexation in 2011 brought the population to 80,000), we wanted to demonstrate we were actively considering added value to our citizens,” she said. “We want to integrate that level of service into our portfolio, if you will. You’re ability to provide care is enhanced dramatically by having advanced lifesaving services.”

Al Kirkland firefighters are qualified as emergency medical technicians, but paramedics receive a higher level of training and certification.

The compromise reached adds language calling for an independent study to be completed by September of 2016 that examines how many paramedics should serve in Medic One during the next levy cycle (2020-25) and which cities should be providers.

The compromise, of course, must still be approved by the King County Council, the Kirkland City Council and those of the other either majors participating cities.

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For previous Kirkland Patch coverage:

Firefighters' Leaders Flame Kirkland Over Medic One Levy Reauthorization

Letter: Kirkland Seeks Equitable Participation in Regional EMS

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Editor's Note: This story has been changed since it was first posted to more accurately indicate paramedic providers in the Medic One system.