Economics of Rural Ambulance Service in the Great Plains

Gerald A. Doeksen, Jack Frye and Bernal L. Green

No 305661, Agricultural Economic Reports from United States Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service

Abstract: In 1969, 221 funeral home businesses provided ambulance service in Oklahoma; by 1973, the number had declined to 124, a 44 percent decrease. Faced with rising labor and equipment costs, funeral home operators chose to discontinue the service. The study area for this report consisted of eight counties in northwest Oklahoma, the socio-economic data being applied to Alfalfa County specifically. A procedure to estimate receipts for Emergency Medical Service (EMS) was designed from the supplied data. Expenses were based on a consideration of each major component comprising an EMS system. These are (1) ambulances, (2) life-saving equipment, (3) technicians with special training, (4) two-way radio communications, and (5) interfacing with the hospital emergency room. With selected assumptions, estimated receipts and expenses were formulated for Alfalfa County, Oklahoma. Four alternative EMS systems were evaluated. The procedures for estimating receipts and expenses were generalized in forms which leaders can adapt to their respective situations. Thus, these forms provide a basis for a self-applied feasibility study for EMS.

Keywords: Health; Economics; and; Policy (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 26
Date: 1975-11
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:ags:uerser:305661

DOI: 10.22004/ag.econ.305661

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