Fla. Commission Could Give Itself More Time to Work Out Fire District Deal
Nov. 27--Collier County commissioners might give themselves and the North Collier fire district more time to hash out a deal over how to provide paramedic services to nearly half the county's population.
In a legal brief filed Monday, county attorneys said they expect commissioners to consider giving the fire district a temporary extension to its paramedic certificate, which expires Dec. 31. An extension would keep the status-quo on how care is being provided in the North Collier district and could give commissioners and fire officials enough time to come up with an out-of-court settlement over medic services, attorneys wrote.
Commissioners would consider the extension Dec. 8, at their final board meeting before the district's license expires at the end of the year.
A temporary extension of any amount of time would only help, said Jorge Aguilera, North Collier deputy fire chief.
"The county kind of held a gun to our head when they denied our application and we held a gun to their head when we filed our lawsuit," Aguilera said. "We both have a common interest, but the approach is absolutely bizarre. I hope an extension could get us into a position to have enough time sit down and talk without losing service. The more time, the better."
For each of the last five years, commissioners have granted the district an annual certificate to train and provide its own medics and hire its own medical director. But in September, the board voted 3-2 not to renew the license this year, saying it fragments care by providing different standards for patient care and medic training in different parts of the county.
Fire officials sued the county last month, saying commissioners never gave them a fair hearing, and asked a judge to order commissioners to renew their medic certificate.
Without an extension, the 85 paramedics with North Collier fire would no longer be able to practice the full gamut of medic procedures starting Jan. 1. The fire district medics would be replaced by nine county medics, working on overtime, under a county contingency plan that will cost taxpayers about $1 million more a year to keep medic response times close to where they are today, according to county estimates.
If no deal is reached, the district, which includes North Naples, Big Corkscrew Island and about half of Golden Gate Estates, would go from having a medic on board between seven and 11 quick response vehicles to having a medic on board three vehicles.
Extension or not, the latest settlement offers from both the County and the fire district show how far apart the two sides still are from a deal.
The fire district's settlement offer, which will also be presented to commissioners Dec. 8, essentially demands the same provisions commissioners have refused from the start, including the same certificate commissioners refused to renew.
Meanwhile, the county's latest offer demands several conditions the fire district has refused for the last five years, including having all medics trained by the county medical director and personnel swapping arrangements that would all but guarantee fewer medics on the streets.
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