Beginning March 23, the Muhlenberg Ambulance Association will assist Exeter Township in their 911 switch by providing 24-hour advanced life support seven days a week.
Exeter Township Fire Department presented their plan to the Exeter Township Board of Supervisors at the Monday, Feb. 9 meeting.
“The transition is going to be transparent and seamless,” Exeter Fire Chief Robert Jordan said. “We are meeting our benchmarks and, in some cases, ahead of schedule.”
In December, the Exeter Ambulance Association handed in a letter stating they would no longer be able to provide 911 services.
“Being stewards of the community, we did the responsible thing by saying, ‘Fire department, get going. We want you to be ready by March 23,'” Supervisor Jeff Bukowski said.
The switch to a combined fire and EMS model is expected to be complete by the fall of 2015. During a transitional period, the Exeter Township Fire Department plans to obtain its Basic Life Support and Advanced Life Support certifications while being assisted by Muhlenberg.
Until the fall, Muhlenberg will house ambulances in Exeter, assuming the duties and services previously provided by the EAA.
Two ambulances have been acquired, with a third one pending, and will be fully outfitted and ready for use by March 1.
“We’re going to actually contract, through Exeter Fire, to provide 911 services for Exeter Township, by hiring about 20 interim, per diem hourly employees only,” Muhlenberg Ambulance Supervisor Jody Heckman said. “They’re going to be Muhlenberg employees. They’re going to use our trucks, our uniforms, our protocol and our standards. When they’re ready to go, we are going to hand those employees over to Exeter Fire.”
Heckman also stated that Muhlenberg is to assume responsibility for the liability of those employees.
Currently, it is expected that the Muhlenberg ambulances will be housed at the Reiffton and Stonersville stations. However, concerns were raised about the proximity of these locations.
The township briefly discussed the possibility of leasing the Exeter Ambulance Association building, which is more central to the area.
“I would like to see, and we’ll try to work out arrangements with Exeter Ambulance, to see if their facility will be available under certain terms, and hopefully we can make that happen,” Bukowski said. “I think that would be better.”
Resident Hilary Nelson also expressed concern.
“One of my biggest concerns is where the ambulances are going to be located,” she said. “I am a person with a lot of health issues. Reiffton and the other one are quite far away.”
Exeter Township resident Linda Focht also found issue with the fact that Exeter Fire plans to cross-train their employees to respond to both fire and EMS calls.
“You may lose a lot of good people because they have no desire to be firemen,” she said. “I would be really like to see that be voluntary.”
Despite points of concern, Heckman reminded the board and public that they are acting and thinking in the best interest of the community.
Exeter Ambulance Association has stated that they will remain in business until the switch begins. It is still possible for them to rescind their letter of notification up until March 23.
The next Exeter Township Board of Supervisors meeting with be held 7 p.m. March 9 in Township Hall.
