Jenna Ebersole
Pocono Record
COOLBAUGH, Pa. — Thornhurst EMS provided historical and projected financial records and operating information to Coolbaugh Township supervisors Tuesday night, seeking to address concerns the township cited in moving the first response for calls to another provider earlier this year.
Representatives from Thornhurst have said the change in designation, which means basic life support or BLS calls get toned out to Pocono Mountain Regional EMS first instead, have threatened their financial viability. Coolbaugh and Tobyhanna Township made the change after PMREMS alleged problems at Thornurst.
Coolbaugh supervisors have held several meetings and collected information since the decision sparked protests from residents.
Thornhurst, which had been first responder for BLS calls in the Arrowhead Lake and Riverside Estates areas of Monroe County, is a partially paid and partially volunteer company. PMREMS claimed financial and operational issues at Thornhurst before the change, alleging dropped and delayed calls by Thornhurst, which the company denied.
Steve MacDonald of the Thornhurst Fire Company, who has represented the EMS in the dispute, provided the information and asked why Coolbaugh changed the designation.
Chair Lynn Kelly said there were concerns about the company’s financial stability and long-term viability, the fact that it has BLS but not advanced life support or ALS services and that it does not staff its facility 24 hours a day.
Company’s are not required to staff facilities 24 hours by law, but must have a response schedule in place to account for all hours.
PMREMS also claimed Thornhurst did not pay by contract to PMREMS for a “large amount” of calls both companies responded to but Thornhurst billed, Kelly said. They have since settled.
She said another problem is that Thornhurst medics load ALS patients, which they are not equipped to help, into their ambulance, which forces a PMREMS medic to transfer with equipment to the Thornhurst ambulance and both go to the hospital, removing both ambulances from service at the same time.
“That’s a big problem,” Kelly said.
But MacDonald said that is not an unusual procedure en route during calls and the companies are discussing operational strategies. The ultimate goal is a quick response for patients, he added.
He also said Thornhurst would like to become paid and add ALS services, but is delaying extensive discussion as financial difficulties continue given that the company is responding to fewer calls with the change in designation. He presented a 2015 projected budget with a fully paid crew.
After the township work session, MacDonald said he remains hopeful about the ongoing discussion. Thornhurst is not planning on submitting a letter of intent to discontinue BLS services as representatives had discussed, but could be forced to do so if the designation does not get changed back soon.
“We don’t want to pressure them,” he said of the township.
Dropping BLS would not mean shutting down, he said. The company could continue to provide lower level services, in hopes of restarting BLS and eventually ALS services down the road.
This week, an inspection is scheduled at Thornurst. Thornhurst and PMREMS agreed to inspections as part of the ongoing township review, MacDonald said.