City fire chief discusses ambulance service plan
March 05--The New Castle Fire Department is in the process of starting its own ambulance service.
Fire Chief Mark Panella attended yesterday's meeting of the Lawrence County Regional Council of Governments, where the main topic was a shortage of private ambulance service response in the county.
He said after the meeting that the department has come up with a plan to start its own ambulance service in the city.
"We've been looking at this for some time now," Panella said, adding that the fire department initially presented a business proposal to the mayor and chief financial officer/business administrator Stephanie Dean. It has since been sent to the state's Act 47 coordinators.
If the plan is approved, "then we'll take it to council for their blessing," Panella said.
The department is looking to have just one ambulance, staffed with part-time employees, he said. The ambulance will have one paramedic and one emergency medical technician on board for its dispatches, and will operate 24 hours a day, seven days a week, he said.
He noted that the fire department already has several people trained and certified for those positions, and they have saved two lives in fires in the city during the past two years.
Panella estimated the start-up costs for the ambulance, not including staff salaries, will be about $150,000.
"We already have a building," he said. "That's just to get it up and running."
(Email: dwachter@ncnewsonline.com)
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