Municipal Ambulance Services Trust

Metropolitan Ambulance Services Trust (MAST) is a governmental Emergency Medical Services (EMS) agency. MAST is the sole ambulance provider for the city of Kansas City, Missouri.

About MAST
MAST originated in 1979 with the city of Kansas City purchasing all private ambulance services operating within the City limits of Kansas City, Missouri. Since that time MAST has been the sole provider of prehospital emergency and non-emergency transport services in Kansas City, Missouri. The MAST Board of Trustees is appointed by the Mayor of Kansas City, Missouri and provides oversight of the MAST System.

Until July, 2003 the MAST System operated as a Public Utility Model with MAST, the City Health Department, and the Emergency Physicians Advisory Board (EPAB) providing system structure, while a private EMS Contractor operated the system.

Beginning July, 2003 - the MAST Board elected not to contract services with a private ambulance company, but instead decided to operate the MAST Ambulance Service solely through the City of Kansas City, MO. Today, all components of the MAST System are directed by the MAST Board of Trustees, the City Health Department, and the Emergency Physicians Advisory Board. Operations of the system occur within the city structure and there are no private ambulance contractors operating within the city of Kansas City, MO. MAST operates as a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization. Physician oversight is provided by EPAB and the Kansas City, Missouri Department of Health.

MAST provides ambulance services to Kansas City, Avondale, Riverside, Southern Platte Ambulance District, and unincorporated Jackson County.

The personnel working for MAST are members of the International Association of Firefighters, Local 42 of Greater Kansas City, Missouri. MAST has a labor contract with the Union and all non-management personnel are members of the Union.

In 2000 MAST added a non-emergency MAST Coach, Wheelchair Van and Ambulatory Transportation service to the system. MAST Coach was strictly designed to provide transportation to residents that are not medically approved for ambulance transport; however require assistance in movement from one location to another. In 2004, MAST Coach was removed due to decreasing reimbursements from Medicare.

Facts about MAST
MAST covers over 420 square miles, with a population of about 950,000. System resources are managed by a GPS-based vehicle location service called MARVLIS. Using system status management, ambulances are stationed throughout the city based on predicted call need that changes hour by hour. A system status controller in the MAST offices monitors each vehicle's location on a real-time map of the coverage area. To ensure rapid response times, ambulances are continuously positioned at post locations throughout the city by a system status controller (SSC).

When a 911 call comes into the dispatch center, the call taker establishes a nature of the call, and passes along this information to the SSC who dispatches the closest ambulance. To fill the hole created by the responding unit, other ambulances are routed to provide a changing matrix of coverage. Hour by hour, as the city population moves, ambulances are continually repositioned to provide 911 call coverage. As of April, 2007, MAST has provided 17 consecutive months of response time compliance in its coverage area. MAST has one of the most stringent response time requirements of any major ambulance service in the United States.

Statistics
MAST Statistics for 2005:
 * Approximately 73,100 calls
 * Approximately 54,300 transports (included in the total calls)

Sport Event Coverage
MAST is tasked with the safety of covering major sporting events, as well as High School Football, Rodeo, KCI (Kansas City International) Drag Racing, Local Parades, and WF (Wrestling Federation) events. They also cover the Kansas City Chiefs and Kansas City Royals professional arenas.