For residents within Grays Harbor Fire District 12’s service area, which is the unincorporated areas of Grays Harbor and Mason Counties surrounding the city of McCleary, they now have a different EMS service provider.

In a Facebook post on Jan. 14, East Grays Harbor Fire and Rescue (EGHFR) announced the contract change. The services “which included initial response and prehospital care, and emergency medical transportation to appropriate area facilities” would now be handled by Olympic Ambulance.

However, as the post continued, “Following this contract change, East Grays Harbor Fire and Rescue is still being dispatched for calls in Fire District 12 with the newly contracted EMS provider. If resources allow (staffing, call volume, etc.), an aid or medic unit from East Grays Harbor Fire and Rescue will respond. When a contracted ambulance is available and responding, East Grays Harbor Fire and Rescue personnel will clear from the call to remain available for calls in our primary response area.”

This change doesn’t affect residents served by the city of McCleary Fire Department, which still has a contract with EGHFR for EMS services.

What promoted the switch by Grays Harbor Fire District is “we reviewed past practices, looked at other contracts and different things, and ultimately we decided to go with Olympic,” said Darren Banks, a commissioner with Grays Harbor Fire District 12 and a firefighter paramedic with Riverside Fire Authority that is based in Centralia. “They have a base right here in town of McCleary that is a staffed station to provide faster response times.”

As per the interlocal agreement with EGHFR, they will serve as the secondary responder. Banks said that there was a brief trial of having both EGHFR and Olympic Ambulance dispatched to calls, with Olympic Ambulance being the primary responder, and now that’s formally in place.

“They are dispatched first, however, if the Olympic Ambulance is unavailable due to being double tapped for calls, they are on a priority transfer for a time-sensitive emergency out of the hospital, East Grays Harbor is then toned as the second agency,” Banks said.

The benefits that residents can see when Olympic Ambulance is dispatched is a faster response time since they are based in McCleary and they are closer to residents, particularly those live just over the Grays Harbor County line in Mason County.

“Olympic is a dedicated EMS agency, so that is what they specialize in,” said Banks. “They’re bringing in providers that are seasoned paramedics.”

Another reason for selecting Olympic Ambulance are for the other services they can offer to volunteer firefighters.

“They can help with EMS training for the volunteers to increase the volunteers’ knowledge and their skill set, as well as providing classes with the ability for people who want to pursue more knowledge in EMS but they might not be able to attend an in-person class every other day,” said Banks. “They have options for being able to obtain your EMT certification. … They are providing a wealth of training and knowledge for the department, which ultimately goes back to increasing our EMS and fire [and] making a more robust system.”

Later this year, residents will be asked to vote on the Grays Harbor Fire District 12’s EMS levy renewal. The current levy was approved in 2019 and is set to expire on Dec. 31, 2026. The EMS levy rate in 2027 will be $0.40 per thousand of assessed property value.

“The reason behind us wanting to renew our levy is again is there are still costs for the district as far as providing EMS service coverages,” said Banks. “In a local agreement with East Grays Harbor, there is a per call rate; every call they respond to, they send us a bill for and we pay them for that. Same with Olympic.”

And Banks emphasized that the levy money goes strictly for EMS services, EMS-related equipment and training of fire personnel for EMS services, such as EMT certification or CPR classes.

Additionally, talks are underway regarding a possible annexation of Grays Harbor Fire District 12 with the city of McCleary Fire Department. A presentation was made to the city council at the Dec. 17 meeting, and the video is available online at https://www.cityofmccleary.com/meetings. Another presentation to the city county will be scheduled soon.