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SALT LAKE CITY — A bill meant to expand 911 emergency services in rural Utah could actually stifle services for the Utah Poison Control Center.
Senate Bill 48 would cap spending for the center.
A staff of 10 nurses and pharmacists handle emergency calls at the Utah Poison Control Center. The medical team takes roughly 130 calls a day 24/7. The center's director Dr. Barbara Insley Crouch said that's twice the national average. However, officials said that cuts in funding would affect the services offered at the UPCC.
"We are an essential part of the emergency response system," Crouch said.
But, Crouch said the emergency calls to the center have been trending downward in the past five years.
"That's a national trend and that's likely because the young generation of parents tend to use their smartphones and they Google things," Crouch said.
But it's that downward trend that has bill sponsor Senator Wayne Harper, R-Taylorsville, thinking money should be going somewhere else. The UPCC has been operating with $2.4 million a year. He said the state needs $140 million to build an enhanced 911 system that brings more emergency phone service capabilities to rural Utah.
"But their calls for service and their functions only warrant $2.2 (million) in fundings," Harper said.
SB48 would take tax revenue from new phone lines and funnel that money into a statewide 911 enhancement system particularly in rural Utah.
A date has been set for the Senate to discuss and debate the SB48. The bill would take the surcharge or taxes coming in from new cellphone and land lines and would fund a statewide 911 system.
"Right now, if you're out in the wilderness area or national park, your cellphone won't work," said Harper.
However, redirecting new tax money from phone lines to the rural areas means a 10 percent less funding for the center. Emergency workers at the poison control center say not having access to those new funds would likely force them to cut back on community education and research with community health partners.
"We're committed to providing that service," Crouch said. "We will do all that we can to provide that service."
