Pa. Mutual Aid Plan Met With Skepticism

March 25--WILKES-BARRE -- Mayor Tony George has decided to scrap a 4 1/2 -year-old ambulance mutual aid agreement with three neighboring towns and instead return to using for-profit Trans-Med Ambulance as the primary backup unit for the entire city, multiple people familiar with the plan said Thursday.

Fire Chief Jay Delaney would only say in an email that George gave him a directive "to change the dispatch procedures when city ambulances are already committed to calls." He deferred further comment to George, who did not respond to interview requests left with staffers.

The expected change dissolves a geographical mutual aid pact the city launched in October 2011 with ambulance services in bordering municipalities that then-Mayor Tom Leighton hailed as "one of the first and largest regionalization enterprises of this new era."

Under the agreement, when the city's two ambulances are busy, an outside ambulance is dispatched based on the location of the emergency call in the city.

Hanover's Medic 9 is back up for the southern end of the city, Kingston's Medic 13 handles Center City, and Plains' Medic 2 serves the northern part of the city.

Trans-Med is primary backup for the Heights, North End, and East End. The private company, which is headquartered in Luzerne, had been the backup for the entire city before the 2011 pact.

Fred Rosencrans, director of Luzerne County 911, said the agency had not been notified of any planned dispatch changes in Wilkes-Barre as of Thursday. Emergency responders briefed on the plans said the official changes were to be announced next week, possibly as early as Monday.

When told about the plan by a reporter, Leighton criticized the move.

"I hope the mayor thought this out long and hard. Chief Delaney and members of my administration worked very hard to put this together to ensure the medical safety of our residents," Leighton said. "It's a plan that has worked flawlessly. I can't imagine any other plan better than the one that was implemented. I thank the people in Kingston, Plains and Hanover for being great partners."

Kingston fire Chief Frank Guido said Delaney called him Thursday to inform him "a change is coming" to Wilkes-Barre's ambulance dispatches and Kingston would no longer be a primary backup.

"We can't dictate what Wilkes-Barre does, but we did this five years ago and it's been a huge, huge success. Every one of the partners thinks it's a success, but obviously the mayor (George) thinks differently," Guido said.

Mike Bilski, president of the Wilkes-Barre firefighters' union, questioned the need to break up something that worked well.

"It seemed to be working for the past five years or so. I don't know why they would change it," Bilski said

Wilkes-Barre's ambulances and eight paramedics operate under the direction of the fire department.

Angela Patla, one of the paramedics, also is the operations manager for Medic 2 in Plains Township, which was primary backup for the city's Parsons and Miners Mills sections. She agrees the change is unnecessary.

"I was unaware that there was ever a problem," she said.

Patla said Trans-Med mostly deals in patient transports, not emergency calls, and is known to over-promise to municipalities to gain as much business as possible.

"Any time a private, for-profit corporation is favored over a community-based, nonprofit entity, it is a step backward," Patla said.

Dave Prohaska, public relations officer for Trans-Med, didn't confirm news that the company is again poised to become the primary back up ambulance service for the city.

"There's been nothing official done to my knowledge," he said.

Prohaska said the company has long served the city's residents.

"We've always backed up the city to some degree," Prohaska said.

Trans-Med was formed in 1984 and provides various services, from patient transports to advanced life support responses, according to its website.

At one point, one of the company's investors and co-owners was disgraced Luzerne County Judge Michael Conahan, The Citizens Voice first revealed in June 2008 while reporting into the kids-for-cash scandal that landed Conahan in prison for 17 years.

Current owners of the business are listed as Homer Berlew and Frederick Buckman, according to business registry records on the Department of State website.

Prohaska said he normally handles press inquiries for them. Efforts to reach them on Thursday was unsuccessful.

bkalinowski@citizensvoice.com

570-821-2055, @cvbobkal

Copyright 2016 - The Citizens' Voice, Wilkes-Barre, Pa.