By Ellen G. Lahr
The Berkshire Eagle
Copyright 2007 MediaNews Group, Inc. and New England Newspaper Group Inc.
PITTSFIELD, Mass. — Faced with the looming departure of a rival ambulance company, County Ambulance is adding staff and equipment as it prepares to confront a twofold increase in its emergency calls.
County Ambulance has spent more than $150,000 on new vehicles and hired 18 new employees to meet a 100 percent increase in 911 ambulance calls. But whether County will be equipped and staffed to meet upward of 5,000 emergency calls per year while still providing service to neighboring towns is a worry on the minds of emergency officials.
On Jan. 1, American Medical Response — which shares responsibility for 911 medical calls in Pittsfield — will cease to operate in the city, and County will become the sole emergency service provider.
County Ambulance President Brian Andrews said the 18 new hires were AMR employees who stood to lose their jobs; several of them will work as dispatchers. His company already has 15 emergency medical technicians, or EMTs, and paramedics on its 72-member staff, which also includes drivers of wheelchair-accessible vans under contract with the Berkshire Regional Transit Authority.
Acting Fire Chief James Sullivan was circumspect about his concerns over County’s capacity to fill the void left by AMR’s departure.
"(Andrews) assures us he can pick up the slack,” he said. “I am sure there will be times, if this remains with a single provider, that we will need to wait longer (for an ambulance), but Brian has assured us he is adding personnel and equipment.”
Concerns about the strain
County also will be the only backup service to neighboring towns, whose volunteer ranks are thin, especially during weekday hours.
With County Ambulance possibly strained by Pittsfield calls, some of the towns are concerned that their safety net will evaporate. That prompted the Lanesborough Selectmen to approve hiring two full-time EMTs to staff the town ambulance on weekdays for a three-month trial period.
Lanesborough Fire Chief Charles Durfee said his ambulance squad answers 150 calls per year, and half of those are to the busy Berkshire Mall. On weekdays, County Ambulance typically handles the mall calls because Lanesborough rarely has two volunteers available.
Dalton Fire Chief Richard Kardasen is concerned that, if County is spread thin, Dalton employers will balk when their employees are summoned for more frequent volunteer calls.
“Everybody’s worried about what’s going to happen,” Durfee said. “I’ve known (Andrews) for years, and he gets done what he sets out to do, but God bless him, it’s a big feat to jump on.”
But Andrews said he is confident and prepared for the scrutiny.
“We’ve been gearing up for this,” he said this week. “We are confident with the numbers that we are where we need to be, and we have room to absorb more business.”
County has added three new ambulances within the past six weeks, for a total of eight emergency vehicles. Andrews said AMR and County are cooperating during the transition, and that the new employees will not switch jobs until Jan. 1. AMR employs about 35 people in Pittsfield.
AMR announced plans earlier this fall to close down its Pittsfield operation, citing financial issues. Its local operation relies more heavily on health insurance and Medicare reimbursements than County, revenue sources that can be uncertain in a medical world dominated by cost controls.
Two other companies — Fall River-based Alert Ambulance Service and Pittsfield-based CRT, a transportation service for disabled passengers — have taken steps to enter the ambulance market in Pittsfield. But for now, neither is yet set up to handle calls.
CRT General Manager James Regan, a former ambulance company administrator, said he has hired eight EMTs and bought a used ambulance, investing about $32,000 so far.
He has projected a long-term investment of about $400,000 over time. With staff and equipment now in place, he said CRT is about to apply for a state license to provide ambulance service. He predicted his ambulance would be on the road in January, at first handling basic EMT calls.
Alert Ambulance is doing some legwork to explore the Pittsfield market, but no decisions have been made yet, said Anthony Suffriti, an Alert Ambulance manager based in Chicopee.
Both County Ambulance and AMR have been operating since 2004 without a formal contract for citywide ambulance coverage.
However, the two companies have continued to provide coverage under the terms of the old contract, alternating each call and guaranteeing 24-hour availability.
The contractual matter is now in the hands of the Pittsfield’s Ambulance Commission and city solicitor, said Thomas Hickey Jr., commission chairman. Since the last contract expired, new state regulations are in place and are being evaluated prior to implementing a new contract.