Whatcom County Council has approved $50,000 in funding for local fire chief Nick Kiniski to become a paramedic.

“I completely support the Point Roberts paramedic,” said county council member Barbara Brenner, explaining that she voted against the supplemental budget request on June 8 because the Point Roberts funding was bundled with a $395,000 to pay for a Whatcom Medic One paramedic class, which she didn’t support for this year. “I think it is an emergency item and I believe it is long overdue.”

Kiniski has been offered a partial scholarship to attend training at Harborview Medical Center in Seattle by Dr. Michael Copass, director of Seattle Medic One. Copass is legendary for making Harborview one of the top trauma centers in the world during his over 30 years as director of emergency services. He has also shown “unwavering advocacy for the underserved populations in the Pacific Northwest,” reported University of Washington’s University Week when he retired from that position in 2008.

“He liked the idea of serving an isolated community,” Kiniski said. He added Copass was also supportive of a possible future agreement with B.C. ambulance that could further expand access to trauma care for the Point Roberts community. Kiniski said he would also be working with paramedics in Ferndale to help support the local system.

With Kiniski trained as a paramedic, he said, he will be able to provide first-round cardiac care and pain medications currently not available to trauma patients in Point Roberts until either the Airlift Northwest helicopter arrives or local emergency medical technicians (EMTs), not trained to provide advanced life support (ALS), transport the patient to meet with the Whatcom Medic One ambulance.

Whatcom Medic One does not respond to Point Roberts. Point Roberts is the only district that does not get medics “toned-out” for ALS calls, points out the supplemental budget request to county council. Nevertheless, a portion of sales tax collected in Point Roberts goes into the county’s emergency medical service fund.

Kiniski said lobbying the county to support his training was the first step in establishing the highest possible standard of care for residents and visitors in a medical emergency. Future steps, such as a local training program for emergency medical technicians which Kiniski will be qualified to teach, will depend on voter approval of the levy increase the fire district will ask voters to approve this fall. One third of those funds would be targeted at improvements in emergency medicine on the Point.

“When I started the standard was it took 120 hours to become an EMT. Now it’s 250 hours,” he said. “It’s good the standards are improving but it’s gone past volunteerism.” Locally available training will make it feasible for more people to be trained as EMTs.

The county funds, will be transferred to the local fire district to cover the cost some of Kiniski’s costs to attend the program. He estimates it will cost him $80,000 in expenses and lost wages and is asking that the district pay rent and a stipend to cover some of his expenses and lost income. “I’m very supportive but I’d like to see everything we have properly laid out,” said local fire commissioner David Gellatly at their June 9 meeting. Kiniski said he would have several options to cover his position during his absence to present at the next commissioners meeting July 14, as well as a funding plan.