Officials consider ambulance switch

KENNETT TOWNSHIP » Kennett Township supervisors will consider a proposal Wednesday night to move to a single ambulance provider for first response Emergency Medical Service delivery.

Advanced Life Support, or ALS, is provided by Longwood Fire to Kennett Township, largely because Kennett Fire Co. does not maintain an ALS unit. It does, however, provide Basic Life Support, or BLS.

BLS refers to the type of care that first- responders, healthcare

providers and public safety professionals provide to anyone who is experiencing cardiac arrest, respiratory distress or an obstructed airway. It requires knowledge and skills in cardiopulmonary resuscitation ( CPR), using automated external defi brillators ( AED) and relieving airway obstructions in patients of every age.

ALS is a set of life- saving protocols and skills that extend basic life support to further support the circulation and provide an open airway and adequate ventilation. ALS is provided by a paramedic who is required to undergo up to two years of training to be able to perform complex life- saving procedures and administer certain medications; whereas, BLS is provided by an Emergency Medical Technician ( EMT), who has received important, but much less, training and is not licensed to provide medication.

Currently, BLS service is divided, with Kennett Fire responding in the Township west of Bayard Road and Longwood Fire east of Bayard Road. If there is an ALS call west of Bayard Road, Longwood Fire is the primary provider of the ALS response with Kennett Fire also responding, which results in dispatching two ambulances on one ALS call. But this situation creates a set of problems, according to Richad Leff , Kennett supervisor.

First, residents are receiving two bills from two diff erent companies for one emergency. Secondly, this takes additional equipment out of service so for that time frame, one ambulance is unable to respond to any other emergency calls. Supervisors will address this issue by considering a recommendation to move the township to a single fi rst due EMS provider for both ALS and BLS calls.

Leff said the recommendation is for supervisors to allow the fi rst due EMS provider for the entirety of the township to be served by Longwood Fire Company.

“This would stop the dispatching of two ambulances on ALS calls in the western part of Kennett Township,” Leff said in a letter to residents. “It would provide a $ 200,000 annualized savings to the region that funds the three fi re companies, including Kennett Fire Company and Longwood Fire Company. It also provides a net savings to the end users in Kennett Township for ALS and BLS billings and eliminates tying up personnel and equipment that should be available for other emergency calls.”

Kennett Fire Company has been serving the community since 1875, many of those years with an ambulance.

“Many of you see Kennett Fire as the fi rst to provide emergency response to our community, making it diffi cult to see any service eliminated as a way to contain spending and provide consistent service to the community.,” Leff said. “The most diffi cult part of this recommendation to the board is that it may impact our neighboring communities as well, but we are charged with spending your tax dollars wisely and making sure you are provided with high- quality emergency services. The extensive studies that were done locally and county- wide reached the same conclusion: that we would be best served by one EMS provider.”

Leff said response times will not change with a single EMS provider. Response time, he said, will be improved for ALS calls and unchanged for BLS calls.

“The recommendation being evaluated is not a testament to the quality of care being provided by either company, but rather the financial impacts of changing times and the need to ensure everyone has equal access to advanced care when needed with the shortest response times possible,” Leff said.