By Madeleine Mathias
Morning Call
Copyright 2007 The Morning Call, Inc.
All Rights Reserved
ALLENTOWN, Penn. — In less than two months, the reopened Forks Township Emergency Squad has answered 160 calls, operated 24 hours a day, paid off most of its debts, and secured a line of credit to use if needed, officials said.
The squad, which opened for the first time in eight months on April 1, also has met every payroll and has had no reason to touch the $50,000 line of credit, said William Keifer Jr., the EMS president.
The squad suspended operations last July when it was revealed there was a debt of about $278,000 and more than $700,000 in outstanding bills.
And last November, the former director of squad operations, Cory S. Dailey of Fountain Hill, was charged with stealing more than $21,000 from the squad and misusing a squad-issued credit card.
Keifer said the squad is still working under provisional approval from the Eastern Pennsylvania EMS Council. He said it sent its first report by May 15, outlining the type of calls received and the squad’s response time.
The squad responded to 82 calls in April and 78 in May as of last Tuesday, providing basic life support care, Keifer said. The Suburban Emergency Squad has responded to calls for advanced life care services with Forks EMS.
Keifer reported Stockertown council voted May 4 to designate the Forks EMS as the borough’s basic life support provider and Suburban EMS as its advanced life support provider.
“I know we still have a long road ahead of us,” Keifer said, adding he was pleased with the squad’s first six weeks.
Township Supervisor Bonnie Nicholas said the squad did “a lot of work to get to this point.”
“They’ve met their payroll. They paid their bills,” she said. “They will have more money coming in than expected. I hope they keep up the good work.”