The Washington Township Committee approved a resolution that will allow the Fire Department to provide rescue services to township residents.
By: Mark Moffa, Staff Writer, http://www.messengerpress.com
WASHINGTON
— The Township Committee last week approved a resolution that will allow the
Fire Department to provide rescue services to township residents, beginning next
year.
A recent decision by the Allentown First Aid Squad to cease
providing service to Washington at the end of this year forced officials to make
a determination as to the future of township rescue services.
Left with a choice of providing its own service or contracting
with a private service such as Capital Health Systems, Mayor Dave Fried,
Committeewoman Cathy St. John, and Committeeman Vince Calcagno opted against
hiring a private service.
Committeemen Doug Tindall and Jack Mozloom were not at the
June 28 Township Committee meeting.
The township will provide the Fire Department with an annual
stipend of $30,000 and will lease or purchase an ambulance for the department.
Washington was paying Allentown $29,600 for its service.
An ambulance purchased by the township several years ago was
being leased to Allentown for $1 a year. The township will take back its
ambulance and lease it to the Fire Department for $5 a year, according to the
resolution.
The resolution was passed after the committee heard comments
from two residents opposed to it.
Margaret Marshall, a Meadowbrook Road resident who works for a
private ambulance service, said she was not speaking as a representative of her
company but as a resident.
"Fire-based EMS (emergency medical service) is the most
expensive method for providing this service," she said. "You have
viable choices. Please research this more before you approve the proposal
presented by the fire company."
Ms. Marshall urged the committee to look at its neighbors.
East Windsor Township, recently faced with the rising costs of
providing its own rescue service, decided to privatize with Capital Health.
"Why reinvent the wheel when we can contract service for
half the cost," said Ms. Marshall, who does not work for Capital Health.
Another resident, Walt Ulinski, agreed with Ms. Marshall. He
thought the committee should investigate further.
Mr. Ulinski and Ms. Marshall were assured by Administrator
Dick Van Noy that Mayor Dave Fried and Fire Commissioner Debbie Matson already
had been discussing the matter since January, due to concerns with delayed
response times from Allentown.
"It's not the cheapest way, but it is the best way,"
Mr. Van Noy said. He said having the Fire Department deliver the service will
provide residents with a faster response time than any other system.
Ms. Matson also said the fire company's lawyer was looking
into whether the district could bill patients' insurance companies for services,
just like a private company would do.
That way, she said, the fire district could recoup some of its
costs. Unlike private services, though, the Fire Department would not bill
patients for portions of the bill not covered by the insurance company and
patients without health insurance would not be forced to pay, she added.
Ms. Matson said the department would keep the ambulances in
the firehouse, and would have to hire eight more full-time employees for the
rescue service.
Two rescue squad members would be on duty at all times, she
said.
The department has 12 paid firefighters and about a dozen
volunteers. It provides 24-hour coverage for the township with three paid
firefighters on duty at all times.
The rescue squad members would be trained emergency medical
technicians, just as the firefighters are, and would be on the same pay scale,
currently starting at $32,290, according to Ms. Matson.
Ms. Matson predicted township residents would see an increase
in the fire tax of about 4 cents per $100 of assessed property value. The fire
tax now stands at 16 cents per $100 of property value, meaning the owner of a
house assessed at the township average of $158,000 pays $252.80 in fire taxes.
A 4-cent increase, for the owner of the same house, would mean
an increase in fire taxes of $63.20.
Ms. Matson said the addition of two more paid workers per
shift also would allow the department to meet National Fire Protection
Association standards. The NFPA guidelines call for adhesion to the
"two-in, two-out" rule for structure fires, which means at least two
firefighters should be in a building and at least two outside.
With only three paid firefighters on each shift, it often is
difficult for Washington to follow the guideline. But by having the rescue squad
and a fire truck respond to all life support and fire calls, the additional
personnel would allow the department to meet the standards, Ms. Matson said.
Article courtesy of the Messenger Press, http://www.messengerpress.com