August 21, 2009

Fire department to add ambulance, crew

       A second ambulance in White River Township will help make sure that accident victims or residents suffering medical emergencies can be able to get to the hospital faster, fire department officials said.  Sen. Richard Lugar announced Thursday that the White River Township Fire Protection District will get a $650,000 federal grant for hiring.  The department has not received official word about the grant but hopes to use the money to hire the equivalent of six full-time workers who would staff a new ambulance.  The fire district currently contracts with Rural/Metro, which has assigned an ambulance to the township.  The department plans to staff a second ambulance to deal with the increase in calls that has come with a growing population in the Center Grove area, Fire Chief Jeremy Pell said.  The ambulance went on about 3,300 runs last year, and 1,100 of those were to calls outside of the district, usually in Indianapolis, Greenwood or Bargersville.  An ambulance from another community then has to cover the Center Grove area, which can increase the response time to often critical medical emergencies, Pell said. The closest two ambulances are on Stop 18 Road in Greenwood and on Graham Road in Greenwood east of Interstate 65.  "Anytime you have a serious vehicle accident, you likely have more than one person who needs to be taken by ambulance to the hospital," Pell said. "Sometimes, you have multiple accidents. That's why it is critically important to ensure that we always have the staffing and ambulances needed."

         The fire department is waiting to hear from the Federal Emergency Management Agency about the grant but plans to use the grant money to hire three more full-time firefighters and six part-time firefighters to staff the ambulance. All of the new employees will be certified as paramedics or emergency medical technicians.  Grant money will pay for part of the employees' salaries and benefits over a five-year period. When the grant expires, the department plans to pay for their salaries with fees received from medical runs, Pell said.  The fire district now has 17 firefighters working on any given shift. They use three fire engines, one ladder truck and a mobile command unit. The new employees will man the ambulance and provide a work force of 19 firefighters on any given shift.  Plans call for the ambulance service to be self-sustaining, using only fee money and not property taxes.  "We want to be able to use user fees, so we can improve the safety for all township residents without putting a burden on the taxpayers," Pell said. "This will also benefit the entire county because it will be another ambulance that can respond to calls everywhere. We've seen how much fire departments depend on other communities when there's flooding or tornadoes."  The fire district has set aside money to buy an ambulance, which it expects to cost about $180,000. Fire department officials are reviewing where best to station the ambulance and what to bill customers.  Fees likely will be based on the reimbursement rates of Medicare, Medicaid, Blue Cross and other major insurance providers, Pell said.  Department officials will have to calculate how much revenue they would need to break even on the costs of operating the ambulance.

         Rural/Metro will continue to provide ambulance service to White River Township for the time being, but officials later will determine if the fire department should have another ambulance or work jointly with Rural/Metro to maintain two ambulances.  "Even in this economy, our community continues to grow and our runs go up," Pell said. "We need to be able to ensure the safety of the community and have the resources at hand to do that."  (Reprinted with permission from the Daily Journal)
 
    

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