Fire Chief Finalizes Plans to Allow EMS Crews to Help at Fires in Somerset County, MD
At a recent Somerset County fire call, a veteran firefighter said he was “hobbling around with a rebuilt hip” while operating a pump. An EMS worker nearby started running a fire hose but was instructed to stop, he told county commissioners Tuesday.
Fire officials say the county’s volunteer firefighters are aging, and new members have been harder to find. County EMS crews are often first to fire scenes, yet current policy can leave them standing by while shorthanded fire companies get to work.
Somerset took over county EMS late last year, while volunteer fire companies remained independent. Some fear the county eventually wants to absorb them, despite repeated denials by commissioners.
County officials said no one is asking an ambulance crew to put on a mask and charge into a burning building. The request is simpler: If a hose needs pulling, a hydrant needs connecting or tools need carrying, don’t make trained hands stand by and watch.
With that, Somerset County officials and volunteer fire chiefs are developing a policy allowing county EMS crews to provide that kind of assistance, reviving a plan that collapsed amid fears of a county-run fire department.
“The commissioners made it clear to us at the meeting Tuesday night that they want it to happen,” John Barnette, president of the Somerset County Fire Chiefs Association, told The Baltimore Sun on Friday.
The fire chiefs voted unanimously in June to request help from county EMS workers already at fire scenes. County officials agreed, but the chiefs rescinded the vote after several companies objected.
“The stigma that everybody’s got that we want to start [a fire company] — we don’t want to start nothing else,” Commission President Charles Laird said Tuesday. “We’re just trying to work with you all and keep everybody going. That’s it.”
Commissioner Darryl Webster said the prior agreement unraveled and played out over a series of public Facebook messages. He said fire officials worried that working with the county would lead to the county “taking us over.”
Webster said he was “deeply disappointed” by the reversal. Commissioner Craig Mathies was a bit more blunt.
“If there’s something that you don’t like about either one of the commissioners or decisions that the commissioners make, if you’re a man, you come to the commissioners and tell us,” Mathies said. “That’s why they have public comment — so that you can state how you feel. If you’re a man, you’ll state how you feel. If you hide behind somebody else, then you’re not a real man.”
The Maryland Institute for Emergency Medical Services Systems said local governments decide whether EMS crews may perform fire duties because personnel structures vary. Its focus is ensuring qualified clinicians deliver patient care.
Salisbury Fire Chief Rob Frampton said all his department personnel are cross-trained. EMS at a fire scene can connect hydrants, straighten hoses and carry tools, he said, but must remain available to treat victims or injured firefighters.
“There is a fine line there because the EMS providers are also there for any fire victims, or if any firefighters get injured,” Frampton said. “So, it is critical that they remain available and have the ability to quickly render patient care.”
Laird said the chiefs must specify what assistance they want. County EMS Chief Cory Polidore and county officials can then address duties, insurance and other protections, with the chiefs reviewing the policy before it is finalized.
Barnette said that work has begun with the fire chiefs.
“Some of them had to swallow their pride, but the commissioners told us this is going to happen,” he said. “We’re in the process of drawing up a policy that will be reviewed by the Chiefs Association before it’s enacted.”
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