Pa. Towns Pleased With Trans-Med`s Ambulance Services

April 15--Trans-Med Ambulance -- the for-profit company being primed for the controversial takeover of the ambulance service in Wilkes-Barre -- is gaining a foothold in the ambulance market in Luzerne County where it's being used by a number of municipalities.

Four municipalities in the county rely on the company as the responder first called when advanced emergency care is needed, according to dispatch protocols provided by the county's 911 service. The company is the primary service used for less emergent calls in two of those municipalities, according to the protocols.

Luzerne, where Trans-Med is based, Wilkes-Barre Township, Plymouth and Swoyersville use Trans-Med for first calls for advanced life support calls, known as ALS.

Luzerne and Wilkes-Barre Township also use the company as the primary service for basic life support calls, or BLS.

Seven municipalities use Trans-Med as a primary back up for BLS calls, while 10 use the company as the main backup for ALS calls.

The mayors of Wilkes-Barre Township and Swoyersville on Thursday said they are satisfied with the service provided by Trans-Med.

"I have no problems whatsoever with them," said longtime Wilkes-Barre Township Mayor Carl Kuren. "There's an ambulance in the township at all times."

Kuren said the township has been using Trans-Med for more than a decade. He said they have a rent-free office in the municipal building and an assigned parking spot on township property. He said he wasn't immediately sure of the rates because billing matters are handled between Trans-Med and patients.

Down the road in neighboring Wilkes-Barre, Trans-Med is eyeing a complete takeover of the ambulance service, which currently is city-run.

Wilkes-Barre Mayor Tony George has touted Trans-Med as a cheaper alternative when he announced he was disbanding a mutual aid agreement with ambulance services in Plains and Hanover townships and Kingston.

Wilkes-Barre council members last week united in opposition to George's plan to make Trans-Med Ambulance the primary backup for ambulance service in the city when they passed a nonbinding resolution in favor of keeping the current mutual aid agreement.

George, however, has repeatedly defended his controversial decision to make for-profit Trans-Med Ambulance the city's primary backup service by saying it charges much less than the city's current partners, but the Kingston-Forty Fort ambulance charges less in most cases.

Trans-Med's rates for its Wilkes-Barre proposal range between $450 for BLS calls and $800 for ALS, according to data provided by George earlier this month.

"I don't know the situation down there, but as far as I am concerned, Trans-Med is a good outfit," Kuren said.

Swoyersville Mayor Christopher Concert said, as the watchful eye on the borough's emergency responders, he has no complaints with Trans-Med, which has been the first call for ALS in the borough since 2011, and he is satisfied with the company's response times and working relationship with the paramedics in Swoyersville Police Community Ambulance Association.

"I gotta tell you I've been sick for four months, but I've been getting better," he said. "But I know if, God forbid, I need an ambulance or somebody at my house needs an ambulance, either our ambulance or Trans-Med will be coming, and I know I'll be in good hands."

Plymouth Mayor Dorothy Petrosky said council members would know more about the borough's ambulance providers, but noted she hasn't gotten any complaints about Trans-Med's service.

"They must be doing a good job or we'd be discussing it at council meetings," she said.

The mayor of Luzerne Borough could not be reached Thursday for comment. The Citizens' Voice attempted to contact only municipalities that use Trans-Med as their primary responder for ALS and BLS calls.

Concert said ultimately, Wilkes-Barre has to weighs its options and decide whether to put Trans-Med in charge of providing primary ambulance service for the city.

"What's right for one town might not be for another town," he said. "Really, (Wilkes-Barre officials are) going to have look at figures and what they can afford to do and really think about people's lives before they make a decision."

bkalinowski@citizensvoice.com

570-821-2055, @cvbobkal

jseibel@citizensvoice.com

570-821-2110, @cvseibel

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