Kissimmee Fire Department
In the Finest Tradition …Courage, Compassion and Community
Emergency Medical Services; a Tradition of Service to the People.
The role of the Kissimmee Fire Department has evolved considerably since being established in 1909. As far back as the late 1970s, the fire department began active participation in pre-hospital care and transport. ALS/BLS (Advanced Life Support/Basic Life Support) transport services began in 1979, when the City's fire department entered into a local agreement with Osceola County. At that time, the City was contracted to provide ALS transport for the west side of the County as well as for Kissimmee residents. The service began with only one ALS unit and one BLS unit. Today, the Kissimmee Fire Department staffs four full-time ALS transport vehicles. The City provides EMS services for all City residents and is available upon request, to assist Osceola County and the City of St. Cloud. Rescue vehicles are equipped with state of the art equipment and crews are regularly trained to maintain and upgrade skill levels.
Staffing: More Than Just an Ambulance Ride
All fire department rescue vehicles are minimally staffed with one paramedic and one EMT (Emergency Medical Technician). All EMTs and paramedics are also dual certified as firefighters. In addition to the initial training of more than 1,000 hours, paramedics must receive 45 hours of continuing education every two years, to maintain state certification. Similarly, EMTs receive a minimum of 250 hours of initial training and must take an additional 32 hours of continuing education every two years, in order to maintain certification. In addition to their careers as firefighter EMTs and firefighter paramedics, several members of the department are qualified instructors in Advanced Life Support, Basic Life Support, First Responder, EMT, and numerous other EMS specialty courses.
Health and Safety Division:
The Health and Safety Division works with the field supervisors (Health and Safety Officers) to facilitate operations, safety and direction of emergency medical services. This broad mission is achieved through oversight of training, equipment, supplies, and run review. Representation from the Health and Safety Division is sent to all quarterly state Department of Health, Bureau of EMS meetings. In this way, KFD can stay current of any changes in laws and standards to maintain compliance. Finally, the department works closely with Dr. Dagan Dalton, our medical director, to maintain quality assurance and adherence to accepted local protocols. Dr. Dalton takes an active interest in the EMS operations at KFD and schedules ride time with rescue crews to participate and observe field operations. He is available 24/7 for any questions crews may have about emergency scenes.
Member Participation:
The Health and Safety Division encourages participation from field personnel through the EMS Committee. The role of the committee is to review current equipment, techniques and training and make recommendations when needed to the division chief for review. In this way, field personnel have an active voice in how best to provide EMS.
Charges for Services:
Patients who are transported by fire-rescue ambulances will receive a bill for the services rendered. The fee is used to offset the costs of all City services and is allocated to the City’s general fund. Billing is managed by an outsource firm, Advanced Data Processing Inc. or ADPI. They can be reached at www.emsclaims.com or by calling the number listed below.
Currently the rate for medical transportation is $350 - $525, depending on the services rendered. These fees also cover non-transport user fee, which are based on services rendered. An additional charge of $6.50 per mile from your emergency scene to the hospital will be included on the billing statement.
You will receive a billing statement with an insurance information form, several weeks after your incident. Even though you may have given your insurance information at the time of transportation, it is strongly recommended you complete the insurance information form and return it to the Kissimmee Fire Department, P.O. Box 917456, Orlando, FL 32891. If you would rather isue the information by phone, please call 1.800.417.2165. Advise the billing department you were transported by the Kissimmee Fire Department and you want to make sure they have your insurance information. Have your billing statement available, so you can provide your account number. If you have not received a statement, you should have your date of birth, social security number, date of incident, and address where the incident happened. For more information regarding your EMS transport charges, please call 1.800.417.2165.
Additional Billing Information
Our emergency staff have been trained to provide medical service, regardless of your ability to pay. The emergency staff is not allowed to discuss any billing inquiries. Billing questions, must be directed to our billing department at 1.800.417.2165.
Financial Assistance
Should you find yourself in a difficult financial situation, we encourage you to contact our billing department at 1.800.417.2165 and discuss making payment arrangements. Delinquent accounts are turned over to a collection agency. Once the account has been turned over to the collection agency, you will have to meet their payment requirements.
Insurance companies will normally cover the fees for medically necessary transportation. Medicare and Medicaid require that all ambulance transportations be medically necessary or they will not pay. Should this occur, you will be responsible for the complete bill.
Some insurance companies have a 60-90 day requirement for filing. If your insurance company has that requirement, you should contact the billing department as soon as possible following the incident and alert them to the need to file within the designated time frame.
ADPI Mailing Address:
Advanced Data Processing, Inc.
520 NW 165th Street, Suite 201
Miami, Florida 33169
Additonal Resources:
Please click on the following link for more information about H1N1/Swine Flu Prevention: Proper Way to Wash Hands; Keeping Sick Kids Home From School; and Blocking Your Cough and Sneezes
www.cdc.gov/h1n1
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