By Frank Juliano
Connecticut Post
NEW HAVEN, Conn. — A regional service that coordinates emergency calls between ambulances and hospitals could break up if the larger communities pull out on July 1.
But while officials in the lower Naugatuck Valley towns and Milford wait to hear whether the South Central CMED will continue, they are exploring their options.
The city of New Haven is considering proposals from the CMED regional emergency communications system and from an ambulance company, American Medical Response to provide the service. West Haven and Hamden officials have also indicated that they will leave the 18-town region, meaning that the remaining communities would have to pay a higher share of the cost.
Derby and Shelton are weighing whether to join either the Southwest region, based in Bridgeport, or another regional service, public safety directors in those cities said Monday.
CMED provides the patch between the ambulance in the field and the hospital, and without the central dispatching it provides, each municipal ambulance and rescue truck would need to carry several radios using different frequencies.
CMED also handles some calls for the Derby Fire Department and coordinates the region’s shared assets including haz-mat teams, according to the agency’s web site.
“It is a much more efficient way to handle it than having to reach all of the frequencies used by Griffin, Bridgeport, Yale and all of the other hospitals,’' said Michael Maglione, Shelton’s public safety director.
Derrylyn Gorski, chairwoman of the New Haven-based CMED, said the agency’s executive committee has been authorized to revise the 30 year-old compact that created it, to better balance the costs among the members.
New Haven officials have complained that the city pays a larger share of CMED’s costs and receives fewer services. Gorski described a meeting she had with New Haven officials last week as “productive and positive’’ but said she is waiting to hear back.
“We’re in negotiations so I can’t comment beyond that, but there are a lot of rumors flying around,’' said Gorski, who is Bethany’s first selectman. “The formula used does look at per-capita (population) and call volume, but we are looking at charging additional fees for additional services.’'
New Haven officials have not made a decision on whether to stay with CMED under a revised cost formula or to use AMR for ambulance to hospital communications.
A spokesman for city purchasing director Michael Fumiatti said he didn’t know when the decision would be made, and Fumiatti did not return a reporter’s calls.
New Haven paid $326,599 to CMED for the 2012-13 fiscal year. Hamden paid $107,000 and West Haven $106,000 that year, while Ansonia paid $35,982 and Derby $26,203.
Milford paid $97,091 that year, but that city’s contribution has bounced around over the past decade. Milford was billed $104,225 for the current year and will pay $91,151 for the fiscal year beginning July 1.
Changes to CMED and its cost formula “have been discussed,’' said Capt. Greg Carmon, the Milford fire department spokesman, but no decision has been made.
Any changes to CMED’s membership or fee structure would take effect July 1, though there would likely be some transition time, said Fire Chief Tom Lenhart of Derby. “We’re working on backup plans, but if something happens to CMED we would switch our dispatching to the police department until we could join another district,’' he said.
Maglione said a new budget for emergency dispatching in Shelton will be presented at a meeting on Friday, and that the city could also join regional CMEDs based in Bridgeport or Prospect.
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©2014 the Connecticut Post (Bridgeport, Conn.)