The King County Regional Policy Committee unanimously approved an agreement Wednesday that may put Kirkland on the path toward becoming an Advanced Life Support paramedics provider.

The vote comes at a time when the city of Kirkland was withholding support of a region-wide Emergency Medical Services levy, which would sustain Washington’s Medic One service.

The committee’s approval will allow Kirkland to be included in an examination of how paramedic services are delivered around the region.

“It will require a study,” said Kirkland City Councilman Dave Asher, who also serves on the EMS Advisory Task Force. “But at least, now, we’ll get a fair shake.”

The study is expected to be complete by September of 2016 and will analyze how many paramedics should serve in the 2020-25 levy cycle.

Although Asher said the Kirkland City Council still needs to vote on whether they will officially support the Medic One EMS levy, which needs support from cities with more than 50,000 in population, he thinks Kirkland has achieved their objective – to find a pathway to become paramedics providers.

Currently, Redmond’s ALS paramedics work out of EvergreenHealth Medical Center but serve Kirklanders more than 70 percent of their time, according to Asher.

Earlier this week, the Kirkland Fire Department, local union 2545, voiced concern about Kirkland withholding support for the levy as they negotiated with King County officials.

I appreciate the patience of those that have watched this from the outside process,” said Asher. “Kirkland will get a fair treatment by the region that will increase service to the Kirkland residents.”

The Reporter will update this report as more information becomes available.