St. Paul Island is at risk of losing essential services due to the collapse of Bering Sea crab fisheries.
The city’s economy depends on snow crab harvest . This fishery has been closed since 2021. without Bering Sea snow crab and Bristol Bay red-king crab.
St. In light of these losses, St.
Pribilof Island’s emergency medical services are now gone.
A community of 350 people only has one emergency medical technician. He is currently on the island. Phil Zavadil the City Manager, says that there is not enough money to hire them for the remainder of the month. The remote community will then have to rely upon local volunteers.
“Basically, if anything were to happen, then we’ll grab somebody in an ambulance and take them into the clinic. That’s pretty much all that can be done,” Zavadil stated.
Although he acknowledged that it was not ideal, he said, “With 60% of tax revenue gone and no crab season, you must make tough decisions.”
Instead of relying on volunteers via the police force, the city now hires EMTs . This was done before when the entire force resigned due to a vaccination requirement for city workers . According to Zavadil, the EMT contract costs $160,000 per year.
He stated that there are some emergency trauma technicians in the island, but that they don’t have the training and certification of an EMT who can perform many lifesaving procedures.
Zavadil estimates that there is a $900,000. Budget deficit. He said that city officials are trying to prevent overspending, which could lead to bankruptcy and mass layoffs later.
He said that we are in a tough spot. “As I speak to our staff, and other employees, I must warn them against overspending. We don’t know how long this crab crash will last.”
To keep its medical services running, the city relies on donations. The Central Bering Sea Fishermen’s Association and the Aleut Community of St. Paul Island have contributed enough money to maintain the city’s emergency medical services until January 31st.
