By Kathy Hackleman
The Lebanon Daily News
LEBANON, Pa. — Representatives of a pair of ambulance companies presented their cases to the North Lebanon Township supervisors this week, each hoping to be chosen as the municipality’s first provider.
Workers from Central Medical Ambulance Service, based in Cleona, and First Aid and Safety Patrol, based in Lebanon, said they can provide the best emergency services for a portion of western North Lebanon Township.
After each presented its pros, it’s now up to the supervisors to decide which agency they believe will provide the best service for residents. They did not make a decision this week.
Lebanon County’s townships and boroughs are set up on a system of “ambulance box cards” that aids the 911 center in dispatching the most appropriate unit to a medical emergency. The box card system designates the order in which units are dispatched countywide.
Currently, North Lebanon is split into three box cards, with FASP as the first responder to all areas of the township. But Central Medical wants to be moved up on the box card list in the western third of the township. Central Medical is now listed fourth in that box card, after three of FASP’s units. FASP, meanwhile, wants to retain the system as it now stands.
Larry Minnich, representing Central Medical, told the supervisors the company has been in business for 22 years and has been responding to 911 emergency calls in Cleona and surrounding municipalities for about two and a half years.
“The ambulance system in Lebanon County as it used to be doesn’t exist any longer,” he said.
Before 2006, most ambulance services in the county were affiliated with volunteer fire companies, but that is no longer the case, Minnich explained. FASP, which operates with paid staff, is the first unit to be called for most of the central part of Lebanon County.
Cleona has designated Central Medical, which also operates with paid staff, as its first responder, he said. First responders for the rest of the county are typically volunteers from Lawn EMS, Schaefferstown EMS, Newmanstown EMS, Fort Indiantown Gap EMS and Myerstown First Aid Unit. Units from Hershey’s University Hospital EMS are the first responder to a small area around Palmyra.
The current box card system is set up so Central Medical is the fourth responder to some locations that are less than a mile from its station in Cleona, according to Minnich. That is the area he would like for the North Lebanon Township supervisors to switch to his company because he believes Central Medical would have a quicker response time there.
“Central Medical is not asking to be North Lebanon’s ambulance service,” he said. “We’re only asking you to take a look at a couple of areas and move Central Medical up on the list. ... We’re talking about the ability to assist North Lebanon in a part of the township a little more effectively.”
FASP’s representative, Bryan Smith, noted that his ambulance service is a 24-hour-a-day, seven-day-a-week operation, unlike Central Medical, and it also offers advanced life support services, which Central Medical does not offer. In addition, he said, FASP has more equipment and more personnel with a staff of about 100, including 24 paramedics. FASP has been in business since 1934.
“Our goal is to be on the street in no more than 30 seconds after we receive a call,” Smith said.
Resident Lee Spencer, who said he had been affiliated with the Ebenezer Fire Co. for close to 40 years and has served as president of the organization, told the supervisors there was no way they should turn their back on First Aid and Safety Patrol for what he called a “part-time” alternative.
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