Posts Tagged Superior Ambulance Service

Elmhurst Fire Department news

Feb 23

Posted by Admin in Fire Department News | 3 Comments

Elmhurst officials are reviewing fire department operations at a time when a growing number of calls are for emergency medical services. The review will focus on staffing and equipment levels.

City officials say the department is now fully staffed with 11 firefighters per shift. The city also contracts with Metro Paramedic Services, Inc., part of Superior Ambulance Service, for two advanced life support ambulances, with each staffed around the clock by two paramedics, part of a Metro crew of 12 who average seven years of experience.

But a number of residents have questioned whether two ambulances are enough for a town as large and spread out as Elmhurst. Many have called either for additional ambulances or for the city to staff fire trucks and engines with firefighters who are also certified paramedics.

Critics of the set-up say fire equipment and firefighters are often the first on the scene, ahead of the ambulance, and could provide advanced life support services.

Firefighter members of Elmhurst Local 3541 of the International Association of Fire Fighters have said many of the city’s firefighters are certified paramedics and would like to be able to use their skills.

But city manager James Grabowski has said he is concerned over the possibility of loss of state revenue as the state’s lack of a budget drags on. The city’s budget does not include any money for additional emergency medical services or staffing, but left open the possibility that money could be found if the council decides to move in that direction.

Fire Chief Thomas Freeman presented information showing that while the number of fire calls has remained fairly steady over the last 10 years, the number of calls for emergency medical services has grown from fewer than 3,000 to more than 4,000.

But Freeman said there have only been 133 instances where the city has called for an additional ambulance from another community, meaning that the city’s two ambulances have been able to handle nearly 97 percent of calls for medical services.

Elmhurst fire’s response time for an ambulance call is under four minutes, while calls involving mutual aid average less than seven and a half minutes. That time is about the same for both calls where an Elmhurst ambulance goes to another town and cases where another town’s ambulance responds to an Elmhurst call.

Freeman and Grabowski explained that all department responses are dispatched by the DuPage Public Safety Organization, DU-COMM, which responds to 911 calls and dispatches responders from 45 agencies in DuPage County.

Grabowski and others explained several aspects of the contract ambulance service, including that Metro does all ambulance service billing, that Elmhurst residents are not billed for any balance beyond what their insurance covers and that billing revenue over contract thresholds are returned to the city at the end of the year. That provision has returned hundreds of thousands of dollars to the city over the 40 years the city has contracted with Metro.

thanks Dan

Tags: DuPage Public Safety Organization, Elmhurst Fire Department, Elmhurst Local 3541 of the International Association of Fire Fighters, Fire Chief Thomas Freeman, Metro Paramedic Services, Superior Ambulance Service

Elmhurst Fire Department news

Apr 30

Posted by Admin in Fire Department News | Comments off

Excerpts from MySuburbanlife.com:

The Elmhurst Fire Department has three firefighter vacancies it hasn’t replaced because of state budgetary concerns.

Elmhurst City Manager Jim Grabowski addressed the issue at the April 18 City Council meeting after residents spoke about the vacancies at the April 4 and 11 meetings.

Elmhurst resident Geoff Gaebel spoke during the public comment portion of the April 18 meeting. Gaebel, a firefighter in another municipality, said the Elmhurst Fire Department has been short three firemen for about a year, bringing the staffing down to the lowest level since 1999.

The problem with the shortage, Gaebel said, is either the fire trucks are operating below standard levels or firefighters are working overtime to make up for the staffing insufficiency.

“When the apparatus runs with less than three personnel, bad things happen,” Gaebel said. “Bad things happen to the firefighters; bad things happen to the city, to the residents, to the buildings, to the lives of this town.”

Gaebel cited a National Fire Protection Association document and a City Managers Association study that states at least a four-person crew is needed to pump and deliver water and perform search and rescue.

Grabowski provided the city council and residents with the reasoning behind not hiring firefighters for the three vacant positions. He emphasized that despite the shortage the fire department is performing at the expected standards.

“I want to stress that the residents of Elmhurst are safe right now as we were nine months ago and nine years ago,” Grabowski said.

He went on to say he has not authorized hiring the three replacements because of the state budget crisis.

“The potential direct effect of [the Illinois budget crisis] to Elmhurst is a proposal to eliminate $2.2 million of Elmhurst revenue,” Grabowski said. “This is revenue that we would normally receive unless the General Assembly approves legislation to change the funding formula and withhold this from Elmhurst.”

The city manager said the biggest expense for the city is personnel, so if there is a reduction in revenue, the city may have to consider layoffs … adding that a clause in the collective bargaining agreement with the fire union prohibits layoffs to firefighters during the contract period, which lasts through May 2017.

To make up for the shortage, firefighters are being paid time-and-a-half to cover all three shifts.

Alderman Mark Mulliner spoke after Grabowski, saying he believes the reduction in staff negatively affects the firefighters.

“By placing firemen in overtime and requiring them to be on overtime you are putting an undue burden on those firefighters as far as expecting them to be there on double shifts during certain times,” Mulliner said. “There is a grave concern about that.”

He also said Grabowski’s cost argument for not replacing the firefighters was invalid because paying firefighters overtime is also a great cost to the city. Additionally, Mulliner said, there have been other hires in the last year that contradict the potential revenue reduction from the state.

“I’m gravely concerned about the fact that we continually say we are not going to hire these three firefighters,” Mulliner said. “By the way, it is actually four [vacancies] because we are down a chief right now. “

Excerpts from the ChicagoTribune.com:

Comments by a resident at a recent Elmhurst City Council meeting have focused attention on fire department staffing levels.

Geoff Gaebel, who said he is a lifelong Elmhurst resident and a firefighter in a nearby town, has criticized the city’s decision not to hire additional firefighters to replace two who retired and one who is on medical disability.

“The Elmhurst Fire Department is currently short three members and has been for about a year, bringing the department down to its lowest staffing level since 1999,” Gaebel said.

City manager James Grabowski noted the city contracts with Metro Paramedic Services, Inc., part of Superior Ambulance Service, for two advanced life support ambulances and 12 paramedics who average seven years of experience, and that the department was covering the three vacancies with overtime.

“None of the three shifts is running a firefighter short,” Grabowski said. “Each shift is being covered by an Elmhurst firefighter being paid time and a half.”

He cited uncertainty over Illinois state finances and provisions of the firefighter union contract for not hiring replacements for the three positions.

“We’d just like to see our manning (restored) to replace the three guys and anyone additional that retires,” said Ed Siuzdak, an Elmhurst firefighter and member of the executive board of the Elmhurst Local 3541 of the International Association of Fire Fighters.

Siuzdak said union representatives had discussed with Grabowski removing the no layoff provision, but didn’t get a clear commitment from him that he would then hire firefighters to fill the vacancies.

Siuzdak said union representatives had also talked with Grabowski about upgrading fire engines with advanced life support equipment, including monitors, telemetry, and advanced life support level drugs as backups when ambulances are out on other calls or far from a medical emergency.

According to Siuzdak, about a third of firefighters are paramedics but aren’t functioning in that role.

Grabowski indicated Tuesday he was still concerned with budget and revenue issues. The offer to drop the no layoff provision also involved several other issues and would have applied only to possible layoffs of new hires for the three existing vacancies, he said.

He added that discussions over upgrading engines to advanced life support levels had not covered possible additional personnel costs or questions about how many certified paramedics would be available on any given shift to cover the upgraded apparatus.

thanks Dan

Tags: Ed Siuzdak, Elmhurst FD staffing, Elmhurst Fire Department, Elmhurst Local 3541 of the International Association of Fire Fighters, Geoff Gaebel, Metro Paramedic Services Inc., Superior Ambulance Service

Antioch creates fire safety commission

Dec 27

Posted by Admin in Fire Department News | 3 Comments

The Daily Herald has an article on a new fire safety commission in Antioch to explore various avenues of cooperation and possibly consolidation of emergency services for both the village and unincorporated township of Antioch.

Residents in Antioch and Antioch Township have … four fire or rescue agencies — First Fire Protection District of Antioch, Antioch Rescue Squad, the Antioch Volunteer Fire Department, and Superior Ambulance Service — provide services to about 28,000 residents in a 37-square-mile area.

But the number of agencies and the niches they’ve carved out in the community have also created a confusing system of service now being targeted for a possible overhaul to make it more simple and efficient, local officials said.

Antioch Village Administrator Jim Keim and Antioch Fire Chief John Nixon are members of a newly created fire safety commission including village, township and fire district officials that has been tasked with cutting through the confusion and replacing it with the best — and most cost-effective — protection available.

Village and township officials acknowledge that board disputes, ownership confusion and the ever-changing needs of fire and rescue have contributed to create a duplication of services in some areas in and around Antioch.

The quilt of emergency services begins with the First Fire Protection District of Antioch, the village of Antioch, and the Antioch Volunteer Fire Department. The volunteer fire department provides fire protection in the village and the fire district answers fire calls in unincorporated areas of the township, Nixon said. Roughly 65 percent of the fire calls are in the village, while 35 percent are elsewhere, he said. The boundaries are less clear when it comes to equipment, manpower and rescue services, officials said.

Nixon said most area fire stations, equipment and fire trucks are co-owned by the fire district and the village. The volunteer fire department also provides manpower to the fire district to fight fires in unincorporated areas. And, rescue calls are split between the Antioch Rescue Squad in unincorporated areas and Superior Ambulance in the village, he said. … Nixon … stepped down as the fire district chief earlier this year but still serves as a commander at the fire district and is chief of the Antioch Volunteer Fire Department.

To address the problem, the commission is reviewing four ideas, and will present the findings to officials from the three boards in January. They are:

• Give control of all the agencies to the fire district, and expand its board to five trustees to include two village-appointed members with a rotating chairman.

• Expand the village fire department operation to cover Antioch and the township, taking over control of the fire district in most areas.

• Completely split the two entities and create a full-time village fire department and a full-time township fire district,

• Keep things as they are, and continue to pool resources and money.

The toughest aspect of any change will likely involve the future of the Antioch Rescue Squad, which has been serving area residents since 1938. In May, the rescue squad elected to end its service in the village after leadership could not come to terms on a contract with the village board. At issue were various conflicts that began when village board members tried to exert more control over the squad after a sexual harassment lawsuit filed by three female squad members that came to light in May 2012. The lawsuit led to the state issuing fines and requesting operational changes at the rescue squad amid findings that squad members had unauthorized access to prescription drugs and patients were mistreated during ambulance runs.

Things worsened when former rescue squad treasurer John Edgell was charged with — and later pleaded guilty to — theft for stealing $25,000 from the squad. Those problems led to township Supervisor Steve Smouse stepping down as the rescue squad president and to the retirement of former rescue squad Chief Wayne Sobczak. The rescue squad is now headed by former Deputy Chief Brian DeKind.

After the rescue squad left the village, its officials signed a one-year contract with the fire district to continue handling rescue calls in unincorporated areas. Superior Ambulance Service was hired at the village’s expense to cover ambulance calls for village residents.

Nixon admitted that, should the various entities consolidate, it could lead to the end of the Antioch Rescue Squad.

Antioch rescue squad Chief Brian DeKind said he favors being a part of the discussion and understands there are many scenarios that could play out before a resolution is reached. “I’m certainly in favor of doing what is in the best interests of the people of Antioch,” he said.

The idea of consolidating Antioch-area fire and rescue services is not new. A study completed in 2008 by the Illinois Fire Chief’s Association showed the Antioch Volunteer Fire Department, Antioch Rescue Squad and the First Fire Protection District should consolidate, Nixon said, but it was never implemented.