AUSTINTOWN Firefighters: Hire more

The way ambulance service is provided may change, a trustee says.
By STEPHEN SIFF
VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER
AUSTINTOWN -- Township trustees are considering ways to get firefighters involved in the ambulance game, but firefighters say they would rather money be spent to get more full-time help to put out fires.
"It becomes a financial issue when you look at the fire loss compared with the amount of money spent on fire protection," said Trustee David Ditzler. "You really have to look at where the need is."
Ditzler believes the need is for emergency medical service. Of the fire department's 1,800 calls last year, 1,100 were for ambulance service, he said.
The trustees are considering buying an ambulance, to be staffed by a paramedic and a part-time firefighter.
Lane Lifetrans, the private company which provides the most ambulance service in Austintown, is overtaxed. As a result, the business refers some calls to companies based farther away, Ditzler said.
When this happens, it can take as long as 12 minutes for an ambulance to arrive, he said.
Potential problem: The system is in jeopardy because of a pending reduction in the amount Medicare and Medicaid will pay for transporting patients, Ditzler said. Private ambulance services make their money by billing patients or their insurers.
At a recent Ohio Township Trustee Association convention, trustees were warned that the amount paid by Medicare and Medicaid could drop by 80 percent, Ditzler said.
He said he already has initiated talks with Lane and Boardman trustees about the possibility of creating an ambulance district which would encompass several communities.
Firefighters' view: Township firefighters, on the other hand, say the immediate need is to hire more full-time members.
With six firefighters, enough to staff two trucks, on duty at all times, the department relies on volunteers, paid for their time, to provide additional assistance to put out fires.
"We feel the staffing levels are somewhat unsafe," said Chuck Hanni, firefighters union president.
Although the volunteers are dedicated, many are at work and unable to answer fire calls during the day, Hanni said. National Fire Protection Association standards call for 12 to 15 firefighters to arrive at the scene of a fire within eight minutes, a standard Austintown can only meet if there is a full volunteer response, he said.
Otherwise, it is a six- to eight-minute wait while a truck comes in from another department.
"A fire doubles in size every minute," he said. "It can get real big in a short period of time."
At 17 of the 74 fires last year, not enough volunteers responded to pull a third truck out of one of the stations, Hanni said. Another 17 times, two volunteers showed up -- enough to drive the truck, but not to operate it safely, he said.
Complicating matter: The situation is complicated by the fact that the fire department is the first responder for township emergencies. A firetruck rolls for everything from chest pains to auto accidents, raising the possibility that one of the two staffed trucks will be out when there is a fire call.
Ditzler said that if the fire department were to get an ambulance, it could be the first-responder vehicle for most calls, and could also transport medical patients when Lane ambulances are occupied.