Pa. Community Ambulance Returns to Service

Jan. 11--West Hazleton Community Ambulance responded to more than 20 calls since returning as the borough's first-due basic life support responder late last week and the resuscitated organization is preparing to launch a membership drive.

The ambulance company on Tuesday submitted its first formal report to council since it was removed from a list of emergency responders in October.

The report has some members of the fire department who worked to revive the community ambulance optimistic for its future.

"We went back online 24/7 on Jan. 6," Assistant Fire Chief Bob Segaria said. "So far, we've covered 100 percent of all the calls. Everything's just going forward and I hope it continues going that way."

In the brief report, which was submitted by Fire Chief Shawn Evans, the association thanked the fire department and borough council for helping it return to service.

Since then, the ambulance answered some 20 to 23 calls, according to Segaria.

In the written report, Evans said the ambulance will prepare a service call report for council to review in February.

Mailing fliers

The association also announced that plans are in the works to mail fliers for its fund drive.

The forms should be hitting borough mailboxes by the end of the month.

The fire company had been working with members of the original ambulance association to get the community ambulance back on the list of emergency responders.

Council members cited a lack of cooperation and communication with the ambulance association when reluctantly voting in October to reshuffle the alarm response card. Officials cited the association's struggles with finances and volunteerism.

Since then, remaining members of the ambulance association agreed to have the fire company take over.

The fire company created an ad hoc committee that began discussing how it could help the struggling association.

Since the fire company has multiple paramedics and EMTs on staff, it formed a quick-response service that has been responding to high-priority calls.

With those developments in the works, council voted in December to name the ambulance association first-due BLS responder, effective Jan. 1.

Evans said the ambulance went live a few days later due to issues with programming fire pages. The issue has since been resolved, the fire chief said.

"We're staffing crews and vehicles within the six-minute time frame the county allows us," Evans said. "We're meeting the requirements 100 percent as far as staffing, availability and personnel stepping up to the plate."

'On a good road'

Segaria said Tuesday that ambulance appears to be "on a good road" since its return.

With the association preparing to launch its fund drive, council President Lou Pacelli lobbied the public for support.

"We'd like as much participation as possible," Pacelli said. "We'd like to get as many dollars as we can to get this thing rolling."

The fire department will be listed on membership forms that will soon be mailed for the ambulance association but Segaria stressed that contributions will solely benefit the ambulance association. The fire department runs its own fund drive, he noted.

Fliers will give residents the choice of opting for individual or family memberships, Segaria said. The latter would apply to households with multiple people. Membership allows the ambulance to bill a patient's insurance -- and waive any fees beyond what the insurance plan covers.

sgalski@standardspeaker.com

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