Membership FAQ

Please refer to our service area page. If you are located anywhere in our BLS territory, you are eligible to sign up for a Lancaster EMS membership.

Membership runs from the date you sign up through December 31st of the year you selected to sign up for. All memberships end at the end of the year selected when you signed up, regardless of when you joined.

There is no need to inform the ambulance crew that you are a member. We also do not issue membership ID cards, as you may feel the urge to search for it in an emergency situation where every second counts. We have made our membership worry free by utilizing a secure database that lists all of our active members for our billing department to reference. If you would like proof of membership for your own records, we suggest simply keeping a copy of the cancelled check or the bank/credit card statement showing your membership donation.

There are various reasons why you could receive an invoice as a member.  We may need insurance information in order to bill your insurance, so an invoice will be sent requesting that.  As previously stated, your insurance deductible and any unauthorized discounts would still be your responsibility. Denied or non-covered services are discounted, not completely written off like coinsurance & copays are. You would be invoiced in these situations as well.

Your membership will cover co-insurances and co-payments on emergency trips. Deductibles and unauthorized discounts remain the patient’s responsibility.

If you live alone and are under the age of 60 you are an Individual. Two or more persons who live at the same residential address will be Family. If you are over the age of 60 and live alone you are a Senior Individual. A couple over the age of 60 is Senior Couple.

No, membership covers only those residents that live at the address on record.

If a neighboring ambulance service has to cover a 911/emergency call in our territory, we will honor your membership benefits per the following guidelines:

• Membership benefit amount will be in the form of a reimbursement
• In order to receive your reimbursement, you must forward a copy of the explanation of benefits from your insurance company as well as the original bill you received and proof of payment from the transporting/covering agency

Note: This only applies if the transport originated within our BLS first due territory and membership is active at the time of transport.

When 911 is called, the dispatchers will send the nearest available unit to serve the level of care needed. There are times when we may not have any units available or near enough to get to your emergency in a timely manner. It is these times that our neighboring units may be called upon to assist.

There may be times when a BLS (Basic Life Support, staffed by EMTs) may be closer and able to start treatment quicker, followed by an ALS (Advance Life Support, staffed by paramedics). Again, the 911 dispatchers will send the level of care that is needed based on information they receive. There may be other times where a patient is assessed by an EMT on-scene, but it is deemed medically necessary for more advanced care to be rendered by a paramedic.

You can complete the sign-up process using this form, or you can call our office to have a packet sent to you.