Burbank vice mayor touts value in Emergency Medical Services program after unexpected hospitalization

It started off as a normal Wednesday morning for Burbank Vice Mayor Will Rogers when out of nowhere, he found himself lying on the floor.

Rogers, 59, laid on the floor unconscious for about 11 hours until his wife came home and called 911. The Burbank Fire Department arrived at his home in a matter of minutes and transported him to a local hospital.

“It’s probably the best rest that I’ve had in a very long time,” he said, jokingly. “I thought I was dead and was dreaming that I was dead.”

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The vice mayor said that he had no prior health complications before his unexpected medical emergency, which he later found out was labeled as a syncope episode, the medical term for fainting.

Rogers continued to joke about his wife enjoying the company of the firefighters and first responders, but one thing he was serious about and grateful for is his subscription to the Burbank Fire Department’s Emergency Medical Services membership program.

Because of his membership, which costs him and about 4,500 other Burbank households $48 annually or $4 a month through Burbank Water and Power, Rogers had to pay nothing for his emergency call.

According to Fire Chief Tom Lenahan, the average cost of an emergency call and an ambulance ride ranges between $1,200 and $1,700.

Rogers said the estimate for his emergency call would have cost him about $1,600.

“All it takes is $4 a month on your utility bill to knock [your emergency costs] to zero,” Rogers said.

The fire department launched its Emergency Medical Service membership program in 1995 as a way to give back to the community, Lenahan said.

“We had seen it done at other municipalities,” he said. “It’s basically an insurance policy for the community. Yes, people have insurance, but sometimes their insurance doesn’t cover all the costs.”

Lenahan added that one subscription is good for all of the people living in a household and is only available to Burbank residents.

Sana Ford, the fire department’s fire administrator, said that instead of fronting the emergency bill onto the resident, the department will charge the resident’s insurance company to pay for the costs. If a resident is a member of the program and does not have insurance, then the city will waive the costs and the city will incur the loss.

“This program would absolutely behoove [those without insurance], and we lose out,” she said. “So, if you don’t have insurance, then there’s no one we can bill and we just dismiss your bill.”

Rogers said that he’s been a member of the program since its inception, not because he needed it, but because he thought it was a “no-brainer” decision.

“We have a lot of seniors in town that take advantage of the program, but I would say anyone that could afford $4 a month should be signing up for it,” he said.

To learn more about the Emergency Medical Services subscription program, call the Burbank Fire Department at (818) 238-3486.

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Anthony Clark Carpio, anthonyclark.carpio@latimes.com

Twitter: @acocarpio