South Hadley gets out of ambulance business

South Hadley gets out of ambulance business
by steve

SOUTH HADLEY - The town will stop coordinating ambulance service at the start of the next fiscal year, turning the duties over to Fire District 1.

The move comes one year ahead of the deadline the Selectboard set for itself last year when it voted to begin divesting from the ambulance service. Ambulances operated by Fire District 1 will serve the entire town, including residents in Fire District 2, in the northern half of the town.

The 3-2 vote by the board last week came as it considered a budget for the ambulance department for fiscal 2010, which begins July 1. Interim Town Administrator Barry Del Castilho said the financial impact of maintaining the town's ambulance service would be about the same as if it was discontinued.

Currently, in an arrangement agreed upon last year to by the three governmental entities (the town, Fire District 1 and Fire District 2), District 1 operates an advanced life support-rated ambulance dispatched by the Police Department. It responds to calls requiring paramedic level services throughout the town and bills patients and insurance companies directly. District 1 pays the town for dispatching services.

A town-owned ambulance operated by Fire District 2, supplemented with police officers serving as the second emergency medical technician, provides basic life support and responds primarily to calls within its district. The town bills for the services and pays District 2 for EMT services based on the number of calls. That service is overseen by co-ambulance directors, David Keefe, fire chief in District 2 and Kurt Schenker, ambulance director for District 1.

Eliminating town participation will effectively remove the ambulance from District 2. District 1 plans to have a second ambulance on the road by July 1, staffed by a mix of basic EMTs and paramedics.

The debate among Selectboard members centered on whether having the town maintain its service and whether the two fire districts should be given more time to reach an agreement on sharing the services.

"It's best for all residents of town," said Selectboard member Gregory Sheehan, of letting District 1 take over. "It provides an advanced level of service to all residents with no increase in taxes."

Board Chairwoman Carlene Hamlin agreed, saying the service offered by District 1 is better for patients. Not having police officers called from their duties to provide ambulance service would help public safety from that direction, she said.

Board member John Hine said patient care would be better if the current arrangement were left in place.

"I happen to live in District 1, so I guess it doesn't matter to me, but if I lived in District 2, I would be a little concerned," he said. The response time for an ambulance from District 1 will be longer for residents in the northern end of town if the ambulance is removed from the District 2 station, he said.

Keefe said that discontinuing the town's participation would remove 14 EMTs (10 police officers and four District 2 EMTs) from the town's ambulance corps. Keefe asked for one more year before the handover of responsibilities.

Hamlin, a District 2 resident, said response times from District 2 headquarters will be well within state standards. But Hine said the town has set a better standard for itself, which would be compromised.

The town, said Selectboard member Robert Judge, should continue to run its ambulance service for the coming fiscal year, giving the two districts more time to work come to an agreement on sharing ambulance duties.

But Hamlin said talks between the two districts have broken down, which a member from each of the prudential committees for the districts confirmed. She blamed District 2, calling its consideration of establishing its own ambulance service divisive and unproductive.

"The tax rate would escalate" for District 2, she said.

Board member Marilyn Ishler gave a verbal lashing to the prudential committees, which she said stand in the way of having one ambulance service for the town.

"I would like to tell the boards to grow up and work together," but she doubts that will happen, Ishler said, because there are stubborn people on both sides. "I question whether the prudential boards work for even their whole districts but for themselves," she said.

Ishler, Sheehan and Hamlin voted for eliminating the town ambulance service. Hine and Judge voted against.

Daily Hampshire Gazette: "Ambulance Duties to be shared in South Hadley"

Daily Hampshire Gazette: "New Path for South Hadley ambulance"

Daily Hampshire Gazette: "Seeing double - South Hadley takes fresh look at merging its fire departments"

The ambulance issue

On July 8, the Selectboard will consider a revised Memorandum of Agreement between the Town and the Fire Districts, and a reorganization of the Ambulance Committee. Please give me your opinion or comments.

From Pam Dalton of South Hadley

Hi Bob,

One issue is the fact that we have two separate Fire Districts and Fire Departments in town. I think almost everyone I have talked to agrees that our town is not large enough to warrant two separate Districts, each with their own Fire Departments. I understand that this goes back to the history of our town and it currently involves Water Departments, their policies and rates. When you ‘take a step back’ and think in a business minded view it just seems to make more sense to have our 2 fire stations working together as one Fire Department and possibly even one Water Department. Our electric department isn’t divided into two organizations. There is savings in eliminating duplication of services. I understand that this is not a popular view with those involved in the two separate organizations. If it could have so many benefits for the town in the long run then shouldn’t it be at least proposed to the people who live in town and maybe let the voters decide?

Pam Dalton