Working Hand in Hand with WV
Volunteer Fire Departments

Volunteer Fire
Insurance Service

In WV

Bill Bailey Insurance Works with Volunteer Fire Departments

West Virginia’s volunteer fire departments have a partner in Bill Bailey Insurance Agency. The Volunteer Fire Insurance Service (VFIS) offers a progressive portfolio of insurance protection and services designed especially for emergency service organizations. Since 1980, Bill Bailey Insurance Agency/VFIS of WV has worked hand in hand with West Virginia’s Volunteer Fire Departments in protecting families and homes in all 55 counties of our beautiful state. Call Bill Bailey Insurance today at (304) 375-4900 or message us online with any questions.

Commitment to Emergency Medical Service (EMS) in West Virginia

Our commitment to properly limiting the risks involved in Emergency Medical Service (EMS) response in West Virginia has lead to long-term partnerships with many of our state’s best providers. From the largest to the smallest entity, we are a valued friend and resource. As the leader in emergency service insurance for more than three decades, we have made it a point to provide our customers with quality education, risk control, and management programs. From training to troubleshooting, VFIS of WV helps emergency service organizations become better prepared for every call.

Can Your Emergency Service Benefit from VFIS?

Bill Bailey Insurance/VFIS and Fire Departments and Ambulance Services

Many clients ask us about the benefits of VFIS coverage. VFIS coverage is among the broadest available and includes such features as:

  • Auto (owned, non-owned, or commandeered)
  • General Liability ($1 mil per Occurrence/up to $10 mil Aggregate)
  • “Good Samaritan” liability
  • Professional health care liability
  • Management Liability (all volunteers & employees) – Cyber Liability and Privacy Crisis
  • Property (Guaranteed Replacement Cost)
  • Portable Equipment (Blanket Guaranteed Replacement Cost)
  • Excess Liability – with underlying continuity

VFIS Coverage for Fire and Ambulance Also Includes

  • Real/Personal Property on a total blanket limit with Flood & Earthquake
  • Defense Expense outside the policy limits
  • Replacement Cost for buildings, real property, personal effects
  • Deductible Waiver for covered losses under Multiple VFIS Coverages
  • Separate coverage and limits for General Liability/Management Liability

VFIS Coverage for Fire and Ambulance Also Includes

  • Underwritten through an A.M. Best “A+” (Superior) rated insurance company
  • Nationally filed and available on an Admitted basis
  • Highly-experienced Claims Management
  • Access to innovative safety educational tools
  • Access to training programs and consulting services

VFIS for 911 Centers and Rescue Centers in West Virginia

West Virginia’s VFIS coverage also extends to working 911 centers and rescue centers across the state. If you are part of emergency management for health and safety, speak with Bill Baily Insurance Agency to review your coverage today!

VFIS for 911 Centers and Rescue Centers Covers

Property

  • Guaranteed Replacement Cost Coverage for Buildings
  • Building Ordinance
  • Full Replacement for Personal Effects
  • Flood and Earthquake Coverage Portable Equipment
  • Guaranteed Replacement Cost Coverage
  • Replacement Cost for Members’ Personal Effects

Professional Health Care Liability

  • Good Samaritan Acts Coverage
  • False Arrest and Slander Coverage

Excess Liability

  • Excess Liability over Automobile
  • Liability, General Liability, and Management Liability
  • Up to $10,000,000

Accident and Sickness Group Term/Long-Term Disability Education and Training Services Consulting

  • Growth Management/Impact Studies
  • Mergers and Consolidations
  • Mergers and Consolidations

Automobile

  • Liability Coverage
  • Physical Damage Protection — Agreed Value
  • Excess Coverage for Volunteers/Employees while acting on your behalf

General Liability

  • Protects Volunteers/Employees when acting on your behalf
  • Protects Dispatching Personnel including failure or refusal to dispatch and dispatching errors

Management Liability

  • Employment-Related Practices Coverage
  • Protects Volunteers/Employees when acting on your behalf
  • Coverage for Wrongful Acts Allegations including Limited Non-Monetary Damages
  • Excess Outside Directorship Coverage
  • Cyber Liability and Privacy Crisis Management Expense Coverage

Communication is Key in Risk Control for Opioid Cases

The extent of our nation’s opioid epidemic is reaching crisis levels. The United States Health and Human Services reports a rise in the rate of overdose deaths to four times the number reported in 1999, with an average of 78 Americans dying every day from an opioid-related overdose.

As opioid dispatches rise in occurrence in EMS systems across the nation, many agency practices respond with airway management and Naloxone administration in response to the crisis. Naloxone (also referred to by a trademark name NARCAN), stops or reverses the respiratory depressing effects of an opioid overdose. The FDA approved it for expanded use. Many regions have leveraged “user-friendly” routes of Naloxone, placing doses in the hands of more responders, including law enforcement, fire department personnel and, in some areas, even bystanders.

As firefighters, police officers, and bystanders become Naloxone-equipped, this introduces additional tiers to the traditional “transfer of care”. The actions and accounts of these individuals are pertinent to the care provided by EMS and healthcare providers down the road. Consequently, EMS providers must uncover these actions and document them in the EMS PCR.

Proper documentation is an effective way to minimize the risk associated with transfer of care, even if “care” is being transferred from a non-EMS responder or bystander.

Documentation should detail the entirety of the patient care timeline, ensuring the times of interventions, assessments, and transfers, be documented precisely.

From a risk control and patient safety standpoint, an emphasis was placed on a combination of verbal and written communication in the transfer of care process, citing both methods independently have their fallacies.

Systems can facilitate verbal communication through the adoption of a standard “hand off” report such as I-PASS. Integrating a transfer of care report form can serve as a facilitator for verbal communication and contribute to written documentation, including a signature by the receiving provider. VFIS provides the Advanced Airway Verification Form for completion by the receiving provider not only supports the transfer of care, but also verifies the advanced airway placement was viable. This verification should be obtained before transferring the patient from the EMS stretcher to the hospital bed.