HARING TOWNSHIP, Mich. — Haring Township has temporarily stopped fire department responses to lower-priority medical calls while officials develop an EMS ordinance and fee structure.
Township officials say the proposed ordinance and fee structure are necessary to sustain the service long-term, UpNorthLive reported.
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Residents may no longer see Haring Township firefighters on lower-priority calls, but officials said Mobile Medical Response will continue providing medical care.
“At the current time, we want to make sure that we have policies in place to protect our responders and to provide the best coverage to our residents,” Fire Chief Jason Baughan told UpNorthLive. “We are responding to priority ones if MMR requests us.”
The change follows the discovery that the township lacked an ordinance establishing EMS fees. Officials said the proposed funding system would help recover payroll costs and sustain EMS coverage.
Township leaders will discuss the proposed ordinance at a special meeting July 27. Officials said full EMS response is expected to resume if the measure is approved.
Officials said the changes are temporary while the ordinance moves through the approval process, which includes a required public hearing before adoption.
Should fire departments stop responding to lower-priority medical calls when another EMS agency is available, or does that risk delaying care and reducing system support?
EMS1 readers respond
“It’s a double edged sword. We want them to know that they can count on us when they need us but the potential for abuse of the system denigrates our ability to be available for higher priority calls.”
“No, because the excuse of needing to cover payroll costs doesn’t hold water if it is a FT fire service. Those FFs are already on shift and getting paid whether they respond to a call or not. Yes, there is the wear and tear on equipment that needs to be considered but if they feel that they are not being adequately reimbursed for EMS response then we need to also reconsider fully funding the department. Our local FD in one city only responds if it is a code 3 call. However, the next city over (7 miles west) responds to all 911 calls regardless of nature. So we need to really take a hard look at whether EMS is a viable service as an independent agency or if it needs to be rolled into the fire department. At the very least, EMS needs to respond from the firehouse as that will reduce costs for the service and make the minimal medicare reimbursement go farther (current reimbursement for an ALS service call is about $408).”
