Drafter
Clerk 04/10/2025
Title
AN ORDINANCE accepting and approving the Medic One/Emergency Medical Services 2026-2031 Strategic Plan submitted by the executive.
Body
PREAMBLE:
Emergency medical services are among the most important services provided to county residents. Those services include basic and advanced life support, regional medical control and quality improvement, emergency medical technician training, emergency medical dispatch training, cardiopulmonary resuscitation and defibrillation training, paramedic continuing education, injury prevention education, and related services. In combination, those services have made the emergency medical services network in King County an invaluable lifesaving effort and an important part of the quality of life standards afforded residents of the county.
The Medic One/emergency medical services system in King County is recognized as one of the best emergency medical services program in the country. With an international reputation for innovation and excellence, it offers uniform medical care regardless of location, incident circumstances, day of the week, or time of day. It serves over 2.2 million people throughout the region and provides life-saving services on average every two minutes.
The King County regional system has among the finest of medical outcomes in the world for out-of-hospital cardiac arrest. In 2023, the system achieved a fifty-one-percent survival rate for cardiac arrest, which is among the highest-reported rates in the nation. Compared to other communities, Seattle and King County cardiac arrest victims are two to three times more likely to survive.
The system's success can be traced to its unique design that is built upon the following components:
1. Regional, collaborative, cross jurisdictional and coordinated partnerships that allow for "seamless" operations;
2. Emergency medical services that are derived from the highest standards of medical training, practices and care, scientific evidence and close supervision by physicians experienced in emergency medical services care;
3. A commitment to equitable medical care that uplifts and safeguards the well-being of all King County communities;
4. Programmatic leadership and innovative strategies that allow the system to obtain superior medical outcomes and meet the needs and expectations of its varied communities and users;
5. Sustained regional focus on operational and financial efficiencies that have led to the system's financial viability and stability, even throughout the economic recession; and
6. Stable funding by a voter approved levy that makes the services it provides less vulnerable, though not immune, to fluctuations in the economy.
King County should continue to exercise leadership and assume responsibility for assuring the consistent, standardized, effective, and cost-efficient development and provision of emergency services throughout the county.
The emergency medical services advisory task force reconvened in 2024 to develop interjurisdictional agreement on an emergency medical services strategic plan and financing package for the 2026-2031 levy funding period.
Beginning in February 2024, the emergency medical services advisory task force worked collaboratively with emergency medical services partners to review system needs and regional priorities and develop programmatic and financial recommendations that ensure the integrity of the world-class Medic One/emergency medical services system is maintained. On September 26, 2024, the emergency medical services advisory task force endorsed its Programmatic Needs Recommendations, which became the foundation of the Medic One/Emergency Medical Services 2026-2031 Strategic Plan.
The Medic One/Emergency Medical Services 2026-2031 Strategic Plan outlines how the region will execute the operational and financial recommendations that the emergency medical services advisory task force endorsed on September 26, 2024. It is the primary policy and financial document that directs the emergency medical services network into the future.
The policies embedded within the Medic One/Emergency Medical Services 2026-2031 Strategic Plan ensure that the emergency medical services system serving Seattle and King County: remains an adequately funded, regional tiered system; reflects the existing successful medical model; and continues to provide state of the art science-based strategies, programs and leadership.
BE IT ORDAINED BY THE COUNCIL OF KING COUNTY:
SECTION 1. The council hereby accepts and approves the Medic One/Emergency Medical Services 2026-2031 Strategic Plan, dated February 2025, which is Attachment A to this ordinance. The recommendations contained in the Medic One/Emergency Medical Services 2026-2031 Strategic Plan shall inform and update the
provision of emergency medical services throughout King County during the 2026-2031 time span.