Bell Ambulance paramedics volunteer at COVID-19 response station

MILWAUKEE -- As this ambulance leaves station five -- it may look no different than normal.

Jason Flegner

But behind the scenes, the paramedics volunteering to work at this COVID-19 response station are putting in extra work to keep the level of service and care the same.

"To volunteer to step up and help take the risk and burden off the other crews by handling as many calls as they can, it's been phenomenal," said Bell Ambulance Deputy Director of Operations Jason Flegner.

That means disinfecting the ambulance with this hospital-grade machine after every call and donning PPE above recommendations from the CDC, like these Tyvek suits, face masks and gloves. They're all measures meant to protect the paramedics, but now, the average call is now much longer.

Ryan Janus

"That takes time," Ryan Janus said. "The crew has to decontaminate themselves, doff their equipment, and at the end of the shift, there's more that goes into decontaminating everything."

On top of that, the extra safety precautions are driving up costs with enhanced competition for PPE. Just as the normal call volume, and thus their revenue, is going down.

"We've estimated that our average increase per call is about $30-$35. And we run close to 100,000 calls a year, so if you add that up, that's almost $3 million a year."

Leaving Bell hopeful for state help to keep transporting those in need.

More on that state help -- Bell is looking for state government leaders to find a way to increase the reimbursement to ambulance services for Medicaid patients, as the federal government already did this for Medicare.