By Dave Statter
dstatter@wusa9.com
STATter 911 — http://www.statter911.com
WUSA9 — http://www.wusa9.com
KENTLAND, Md. — STATter 911 has confirmed with Kentland Volunteer Fire Department and Prince George’s County officials that ambulance service will begin at 7:00 a.m., this Sunday, at the firehouse on Landover Road. Prince George’s County Public Safety Director Vernon Herron says Ambulance 339 initially will not operate between the hours of 11:00 p.m. and 7:00 a.m. because of the current lack of space to provide a sleeping facility for the ambulance crew.
Acting Kentland Chief Ed Lehan says he is continuing to work with county officials to secure an area at the firehouse for a bunk room to house those assigned to the ambulance.
For more than 12 years Kentland has been an all-volunteer department. The basic-life-support ambulance going in-service on Sunday will be staffed by paid, career firefighter/EMTs from the Prince George’s County Fire/EMS Department. Public Safety Director Herron says he will continue to work with Kentland’s leadership to find volunteers to assist in staffing the unit.
This appears to be the end of a more than 7-month-long battle between Kentland and the Prince George’s County Fire/EMS Department. The dispute resulted in the suspension of two of Kentland’s chiefs and a month long dispatch restriction that kept Kentland’s fire trucks confined to its first due response area.
The deadlock was ended last week when Kentland officials met with Herron and Prince George’s County Executive Jack Johnson. That meeting did not include PGFD Chief Lawrence Sedgwick or any of his staff.
Chief Sedgwick had long insisted that Kentland had enough volunteers to fully staff the ambulance. The suspensions and restrictions were ordered by Sedgwick after Kentland VFD failed to meet deadlines for providing the service. A spokesperson for Sedgwick referred all calls on the matter to Vernon Herron.
Former Kentland Acting Chief Tony Kelleher was reinstated to deputy chief after last week’s meeting. Kelleher was suspended on August 20th, the day the dispatch restrictions were put in place. Former Kentland Chief Michael Mattison, who was suspended in May, has not been reinstated.
Since 1972 Dave Statter has covered the news. A good deal of Dave’s reporting has focused on how fire and emergency medical services are delivered in and around Washington and Baltimore. Along the way, Dave was also a volunteer firefighter, an emergency dispatcher and a cardiac rescue technician.