By Jenna Ebersole
Pocono Record
COOLBAUGH, Pa. — Coolbaugh Township will switch back to calling Thornhurst EMS first for basic life support services, reviving hopes that the mostly volunteer company will survive.
Pocono Mountain Regional EMS, the larger paid area ambulance crew, brought forward concerns about Thornhurst’s service earlier this spring, warning that residents’ health and safety were at risk. Tobyhanna and Coolbaugh townships changed their primary designations for basic life support, or BLS, calls to Regional. Previously, Thornhurst’s coverage included the Riverside Estates and Arrowhead Lake areas of the county.
But Coolbaugh reversed its decision Tuesday night, until at least June 30, 2015, with conditions and goals for Thornhurst to work toward.
Who gets called first
The prior decision to use Regional meant that Coolbaugh’s BLS calls in former Thornhurst territory were toned to Regional first instead of Thornhurst. Regional was already toned first for advanced life support, or ALS, calls. They will continue to receive ALS calls first, because Thornhurst does not have ALS services. If a company does not respond in several minutes, a secondary EMS company is toned.
The change to Regional went into effect in March, which has meant about four months of fewer calls — and lost revenue — for Thornhurst. As a result, the company discussed submitting a letter of intent to shut down.
The switch also ignited a passionate response among affected residents, who came to Coolbaugh meetings to give emotional testimony to the ways Thornhurst has saved their lives or the lives of family members and the shorter distance between the company and their homes. Regional representatives had alleged Thornhurst had delayed response times due to dropped calls, incorrect operating procedures and billing issues, which Thornhurst countered.
The Monroe County Control Center does not track dropped calls, but records last year show response times were mostly under five minutes for Thornhurst. A few appeared to have been dropped, but the records were not clear and Thornhurst said these issues have been resolved.
Changing back
Coolbaugh researched the issue and held a special meeting in April. They switched the back to Thornhurst effective immediately, but the change could take several days or weeks for implementation by the control center.
Supervisor Robert Zito laid out several conditions and steps for the next year, until the designation comes up for review again.
Coolbaugh has agreed to pay Thornhurst $43 per BLS call in the township, which is the same rate it pays Regional. Thornhurst representative Steve MacDonald said the company previously was not paid by the township.
Thornhurst will also bring quarterly reports to the township, with financial updates, gather information from other municipalities it covers on the percentage of calls in each and rates, develop a standard operating procedure with Regional for ALS calls that Thornhurst reaches first, talk to its communities on financial contributions and begin the process to become a 24-hour, ALS service.
Zito also said Coolbaugh will only pay its call rate if Thornhurst has no outstanding bills with Regional.
The goal, MacDonald said, is open communication between Regional and Thornhurst going forward.
Though Coolbaugh is a larger area for the company, Thornhurst will also be approaching Tobyhanna about a similar change back.
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©2014 the Pocono Record, Stroudsburg, Pa.