Conn. City Says 'No' to Additional Full-Time Firefighters

April 01--BRANFORD -- An effort to gradually increase the number of staff at the Fire Department, in a move that wouldn't have cost taxpayers any additional funds, was rejected by the Board of Finance last week.

The reason for the rejection, Board of Finance Chairman Joseph Mooney said, is that aside from some exceptions in the Board of Education budget, the town doesn't want to add any new, full-time positions.

"We're just hesitant to add full-time positions in this economic climate," Mooney said. That decision was made by the finance board, he said.

Fire Chief Jack Ahern said his budget, which included a 1.5 percent increase, did not increase due to the proposed added position. The position he sought was a paramedic coordinator.

The finance board gave the department the same dollar amount increase it requested, but rejected Ahern's request to create the position.

Ahern said currently the department has two full-time ambulances and two part-time ambulances, staffed by on-call people. At times, the department is called for services requiring it to transport someone to the hospital. He said the preference is to send out the part-time ambulance, so the full-time crews, who are also firefighters, aren't away in the event they are needed.

This coordinator would spend half his or her time helping with the part-time ambulance, he said. Sometimes the department has to call private or out-of-town providers to transport someone to the hospital, which causes the town to lose revenue.

There's always a risk associated with having full-time firefighters out on routine calls, Ahern said.

"We hope nothing happens, and chances are it won't happen, but when it does, you need them here," he said.

The other half of the time, the coordinator would play more of an administrative role. The rules and certifications for paramedics change, and the deputy chief and chief have to stay on top of those issues, Ahern said.

They have to attend meetings, facilitate the trainings and certifications, or meet with officials to have conversations about what works and what doesn't for their department.

The department also works with medics to improve quality, and goes over and reviews calls with them and the way they were handled, the chief said.

Ahern says all of this somehow gets done now, but it's not ideal.

"In the very near future this town is going to need a third, full-time ambulance and this time around we were trying to do it without increasing our budget and do it gradually," Ahern said.

He said the department is planning to "seek other avenues" to have the position added.

The chief said his department would have paid the coordinator's salary by moving funds from what it used for the part-time ambulance staff.

Copyright 2013 - New Haven Register, Conn.