By Nick Taylor
mlive.com
FLINT, Mich. — The Flint City Council has approved a $109,000 contract with a consultant that’ll help the city oversee its ambulance division.
The council voted 5-0 on Monday, July 27 , to approve the two-year contract with L&C EMS Consulting LLC.
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The approval comes approximately two years after the Flint Fire Department’s ambulance division was established and just months after the division added a fourth ambulance to its fleet.
L&C EMS Consulting was one of three consultants up for the contract, but the other two options would have come with a price tag of $900,000 to $1.2 million, Flint Fire Chief Theron Wiggins said.
The contract will be paid for with fire department funds.
The consultant will oversee training of the fire department’s ambulance division and quality assurance for the division’s ambulance reports.
The same consultant has provided EMS training the past three years for the fire department, Wiggins said.
Wiggins noted the consultant’s assistance is required for the division to secure its accreditation, allowing it to continue providing services.
The division must be accredited by October.
“We picked him because he’s already doing the job, and he had a good track record with us,” Wiggins said. “He has lifted our success rate in training young men and women to the fire department between 90 and 100% success rate.”
The contract also covers consultation from a medical doctor, which is required for accreditation through the Commission on Accreditation of Ambulance Services (CAAS).
The fire department’s ambulance services are subject to the Genesee County Medical Control Authority , the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services and CAAS, Wiggins said.
“This is the gold standard for ambulance services throughout the United States,” he said of CAAS.
Wiggins also said the fire department has submitted its application for accreditation and is currently waiting for results.
He added that the department has been working on the application process for the past year, describing the experience as painstaking.
Prior to the council’s approval of the EMS consultant contract Monday, Sixth Ward Councilwoman Tonya Burns expressed concerns about the city’s new ambulance services, citing reports of slow response times.
Although she attended Monday’s meeting, Burns was not present for the council’s vote on the consultant contract.
Wiggins said while some 911 callers are still experiencing waiting times for EMS services in the city, the situation has improved with the addition of the city’s ambulance division.
“It’s better than not coming at all before we got our own ambulance,” Wiggins said.
Burns requested a reference check for the consultant to ensure they have previously provided the services included in their contract with the city.
Wiggins could not confirm that they have acted in the same capacity before.
“Making sure that, our community, that we have ambulatory services available is important and also with certification,” Burns said.
Burns also said she is worried the city’s new ambulance division is stretching the fire department too thin as it has had trouble retaining staff due to pay, citing a July 25 Facebook post from Flint Firefighters Local 352 .
The fire department is currently in contract negotiations with the union, Wiggins said.
“Our firefighters will continue to answer every call with professionalism and dedication, but the reality is that wages lower than comparable departments have made it difficult to recruit and retain firefighters,” the Facebook post read. “Flint deserves a fully staffed fire department, and we will continue advocating for the resources needed to provide the level of service our residents deserve.”
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