By Barbara O’Brien
The Buffalo News
HAMBURG, New York — Hamburg town dispatchers could be dispatching calls for the Orchard Park Fire District.
The fire district, which operates its own ambulance service and includes three volunteer fire companies, has negotiated with the Town of Hamburg, but has not yet signed a contract for the move.
“There are some issues that need to be corrected with our own system,” said Bill Szewc Jr., chairman of the Orchard Park Fire District’s board of commissioners.
Some Orchard Park police and residents are questioning the move, which they believe will add to response time. They also said the move was considered with little input from the public, and will cost extra.
“The big concern is the delay that’s going to be created by sending the emergency and fire calls to the Town of Hamburg,” said John Mariano, president of the Orchard Park Police Benevolent Association.
When a 911 call about a person requiring medical attention comes into the Orchard Park Dispatch Center, the call is transferred to Rural Metro, where an emergency medical dispatcher talks with the caller to determine the level of response that is needed. Rural Metro then contacts Orchard Park dispatchers, who dispatch the appropriate responders.
Mariano said town dispatchers can handle most of the calls that come in, and are familiar with all areas of the town.
Jay Smith, a spokesman for Rural Metro, said the company has been performing the duties for about 10 years.
“We think it works well,” he said, adding the company also handles emergency medical dispatch calls for West Seneca and Concord. “We’re happy to provide the service, at no additional cost.”
Hamburg is planning to budget $30,000 in revenue for the change, and Mariano said the cost will be $17 per call. There were 2,400 fire and EMS calls from Jan. 1 to Tuesday, which would cost more than $40,000 at that rate, he said.
Szewc said Rural Metro is a competitor with the Orchard Park Fire District EMS and has no contract with the town. Hamburg Dispatch, which opened a new center last year, has more sophisticated equipment that performs more functions than Orchard Park, he added.
Szewc said fire commissioners plan to meet with Orchard Park police and dispatchers to see if issues, which he declined to outline, can be resolved.
“It’s premature to say that everything is settled down and that’s what happening,” he said of the move.
But if the change is finalized, it’s likely it would occur sometime in early 2011, he added.
“This was precipitated by the Town Board last year,” Szewc said.
The Orchard Park Town Board last year looked into moving all of the town dispatching duties to Hamburg, but decided against it. Szewc said that got fire commissioners looking at dispatch services.
Also last year, the fire district started its own EMS service with paramedics to answer medical calls. The new not-for-profit company started with six full-time employees, including four paramedics. Before that, Rural Metro responded to calls that required the high level of service if volunteers did not have paramedics available.
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