N.Y. Fire Department Poised to Takeover Ambulance Service

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. -- The Saratoga Springs Fire Department could undertake primary ambulance services for the city's nearly 30,000 residents as soon as next week.

The City Council voted 4 to 1 late Tuesday to transfer patient transport duties -- at least temporarily -- to the 55-member department from Saratoga Emergency Medical Services. The non-profit SEMS is shutting down as soon as next week after more than two decades of work in the city due to financial hardships. Council members will file for a municipal certificate from the state Department of Health, which would allow members of the fire department to use its 2007 Ford ambulance to drive patients to hospitals.

The council selected the fire department to replace SEMS over bids from the commercial Empire and Mohawk ambulance services after more than two hours of discussion and public input.

The city's fire department has provided emergency medical services -- basic and advanced life support -- in response to 911 calls for 20 years. Having its trained paramedics move patients, rather then putting them in a SEMS vehicle, was a natural move that will raise revenues for the city, said Public Safety Commissioner Chris Mathiesen, who brought Tuesday's votes.

"We have these firefighters who have this training, and it's a better utility of their training and time," Mathiesen said.

The department would need to hire one additional firefighter to have the necessary manpower to take on the ambulance work, Fire Department Chief Robert Williams said Wednesday. But it would also need to find funding to keep seven firefighters who are now being paid through a federal grant that expires at the end of this year.

Billing insurance companies for rides to the hospital could raise $563,000 to $1 million a year for the city, depending on calls answered and other factors, Williams said. The department presently receives no insurance money for responding to EMS calls because it's not involved in patient transport, which is reimbursed by insurers.

An urgency to put a plan in place by the time SEMS dissolves motivated Tuesday's votes, officials said. A state Department of Health spokesman said Wednesday that approval for a municipal certificate was "not a difficult process." There will not be a gap in ambulance coverage in the city because it is covered by mutual aid from neighboring communities and commercial companies.

Under the terms of Tuesday's resolution, the city would assess the fire department's involvement in ambulance service after 18 months. If problems arise or revenues do not meet expectations, other means will be considered, Mathiesen said. Firefighters would man the department's ambulance, and depend on an ambulance company or mutual aid for backup. That hasn't been decided yet, Mathiesen said.

The department's ambulance presently has 2,300 miles on it and is used as a support vehicle at horse shows and other events, Williams said. It is kept in the West Avenue #2 station. The city averages about 3,400 calls for EMS a year. Troy, Glens Falls and Watervliet are among area municipalities who use firefighters as patient transporters, Williams said.

Mayor Scott Johnson voted against the switch Tuesday. He could not be reached for comment.

McClatchy-Tribune News Service