Mahwah April 11, 2012 THE VILLADOM TIMES IV • Page 3 Officials eye options to improve response times by Frank J. McMahon Mahwah Mayor William Laforet and Mahwah Township Administrator Brian Campion are now looking at options to improve the response time for the township’s emergency medical services. One option could be to call a paid emergency medical service if township volunteers cannot respond to the first two calls made in an emergency, but ambulance corps volunteers object to using a paid service. The debate between the mayor and the EMS volunteers has been ongoing since they first met in December to discuss response times. The issue came to the fore late last month, when more than 35 EMS volunteers and many of their supporters attended a council meeting. The volunteers gave a slide presentation to support their contention that the township’s two ambulance corps companies can continue to handle the volume of emergency calls made by the 25,000 township residents and the 10,000 additional people who enter the township on a regular basis for the 465 businesses,15 schools/libraries, 16 churches, 25 restaurants, and 10 hotels. EMS volunteer Cord Meyer told the council that only 16 of the 1,735 emergency calls received in 2011 went out to mutual aid emergency services groups in Ramsey, Upper Saddle River, Wyckoff, and Allendale. Meyer said not one patient was charged for the service. Meyer said a private ambulance company must, by law, charge a fee and collect it, and charging patients for EMS services will not guarantee a better response. “Our dedicated volunteers face a challenge to their very existence, in spite of successfully providing EMS services to Mahwah since 1947. There is no better way to provide EMS to the Township of Mahwah,” Meyer said. Laforet responded that he has the upmost respect and admiration for the volunteers and the service they provide to the residents. However, he claimed the abilities of the volunteer ambulance corps structure have been outpaced by the growing daytime demands of the community. He explained that claim, saying there have been 600 missed calls over the past five years. Laforet emphasized that the problem is not the volunteers, but the system. He said, “The only thing that matters is response time. “The issue I am now addressing with the ambulance corps is not something new, but is a problem that has been on the desk of the late Mayor Richard Martel and Acting Mayor John DaPuzzo, and obviously it is not a problem that is going away. “As mayor, my primary concern is to provide an acceptable level of emergency service response to our community. In terms of life support, minutes can mean the difference between life and death. I’m sure that any resident who has waited 15 to 30 minutes or more for an ambulance to respond for a loved one understands the need for a prompt ambulance response to transport the patient to a nearby hospital. “I must examine this situation with fact specific issues, which include the response times, the time it takes for an ambulance to sign into service, the number of times we need to rely on other towns, the increasing number of calls, and the lower number of actual volunteers (who) are available to answer these calls. I can’t make what are potentially life and death decisions based upon emotion. “I don’t want to be the mayor who has to talk to the next of kin and explain why Mahwah could not deliver an ambulance in an expedient amount of time. I cannot sit back and wait for an accident to happen, or expose Mahwah to the liability. “My goal is simple. I must take steps to ensure an effective and efficient ambulance corps service to this community when a 911 call is placed. I am concerned that the problem has been going on many years without any permanent resolution and I can no longer sit back and watch this happen when a life may be in jeopardy. I sincerely appreciate all the volunteer ambulance corps has done, but I must examine all alternatives and make decisions that are in the best interest of the community.” Laforet emphasized that, under his proposal, a third call response by a paid EMS will not result in any billing to a resident above what the individual’s insurance covers and if the resident receiving emergency medical service does not have insurance, his or her cost will be zero. (continued on page 4)