Warren loses two backup ambulance services

By Ed Runyan

runyan@vindy.com

WARREN

Warren officials are talking to several private ambulance companies in an effort to get one under contract to pick up ambulance calls that the Howland Township Fire Department no longer will handle as a day-to-day backup to Med Star EMS and Transport.

Howland Fire Chief James Pantalone sent Warren Fire Chief Ken Nussle and Safety Service Director Enzo Cantalamessa a letter this month, saying Howland can no longer answer routine calls in Warren “due to the increasing call volume in our own community.”

Pantalone said Howland has responded to about 100 to 150 Warren ambulance calls per year in recent years, but that number has been climbing. The Howland Fire Department responds to about 3,300 calls per year in Howland, he said.

The township doesn’t lose money by responding to Warren calls because Howland bills the customer or his or her insurance company for them, but calls in the township need to be the department’s first priority, Pantalone said.

“I’m not willing to sacrifice our service and delivery for our township,” he said.

Champion Township Fire Chief John Hickey sent the city a similar letter last June after the number of calls Champion answered in Warren rose to 12 during the first six months of 2014.

“We were getting called a lot,” Hickey said.

That rise in calls caused concern because Champion serves its 10,000 residents and provides backup coverage to Newton Falls and Southington, Braceville and Warren townships, Hickey said.

Pantalone and Hickey said their departments will answer calls in Warren in the event of a catastrophic situation but not on routine calls.

Warren has a contract with Med Star to provide ambulance service in the city, but it also asks several other private ambulance companies to respond if Med Star is not available, Cantalamessa said. If those services are not available, the call goes to Warren Township.

To prevent delays in service now that Howland and Champion are not serving as backups, Cantalamessa said he has begun talking to the half-dozen ambulance companies in the area to find one that will work under a contract with the city like the contract the city has with Med Star.