Upper Makefield Signs First Responder Agreement With Newtown EMS

UPPER MAKEFIELD, PA — The Upper Makefield Board of Supervisors has approved a new Emergency Medical Service (EMS) responder for the township.

At its February meeting, the supervisors inked a one year, $235,000 contract with Newtown Emergency Medical Services to begin providing EMS and emergency transport in the township.

Newtown EMS will be replacing St. Mary Medical Center, which has been providing emergency response service to the township for the past decade.

St. Mary notified the township earlier this year that it would be ending its ambulance service in the township effective March 1 and exiting the EMS business. It cited cost and staffing issues as its reason.

During the transition between March 1 and when Newtown takes over, the nearest available ambulance will be dispatched for calls in the township.

“No matter what, you’re not going to be without service. You call 911 and county’s 911 center is going to dispatch the closest unit to your location and someone is going to show up. It may be a little bit longer. Our response time to Traditions is 12 minutes from Newtown typically for an ALS (Advance Life Support) call,” said Newtown’s Chief of Operations Evan Resnikoff.

St. Mary had staffed an ambulance 24-7, seven days a week at the Upper Makefield Township Fire Station on Taylorsville Road.

“Having them continue on is not an option. We asked them about their ability to continue. We tried to talked to them about incentives to get them to continue. They chose not to do so,” said board chair Tony Cino.

According to Cino, the township conducted a diligent review of potential providers and an exploration of all the possible options in the marketplace.

“The common thread across the marketplace has been that staffing has been difficult and some folks just opted not to provide the service (to the township),” said Cino. “Some folks opted to provide a response that didn’t have any type of guarantee of service, thus not making it a viable option.”

Under the new arrangement with Newtown EMS, Newtown will house an ambulance at the Upper Makefield Fire Station for 24 hours on Wednesday, on Friday night and again during the day on Saturday.

“The ideal thing about these nights and Saturdays is that’s when most people are at home in the township and statistically when more of the calls may be,” said Resnikoff.

All other times Newtown EMS will stage a non-transport response vehicle 24/7 staffed by an EMT, a paramedic or an advanced EMT at the fire houseto respond to calls.

According to Resnikoff, every time the response vehicle is dispatched the closest possible ambulance is automatically co-dispatched.

“The responder will get to the location within five to seven minutes depending where you are in the township. The paramedic, EMT or advanced EMT will start to render care and stabilization until the ambulance arrives to transport the patient.

“Whether it’s an EMT, an Advanced EMT or a Paramedic, they are going to have everything they need to get started (at the scene rendering medical help) until the ambulance arrives,” said Resnikoff.

The vehicle will be licensed as both an ALS (Advance Life Support) and BLS (Basic Life Support) unit equipped with all the core equipment an ambulance would have. The only thing it won’t be able to do is transport a patient, he said.

Due to the township’s low call volume at .8 calls per day, putting an ambulance physically in the township seven days a week, 24 hours a day would cost in excess of $700,000, said Resnikoff.

“There are very little billables and call volume” to pay for that service. “That’s why St. Mary was losing so much money every year because there are very little billables,” he said.

An average ambulance call volume is 70 percent in Bucks County, but the average collection rate is 38 percent. “Certain areas are better. We’re at 48 percent in Newtown and I’m sure Upper Makefield the collection mix is probably even higher. But the call volume average is very low. That’s why EMS organizations across Bucks County are really leaning on their municipalities right now for support.”

Newtown EMS already covers part of the township along Creamery Road because it’s the closest ambulance. That will continue as it always has, said Resnikoff. And Central Bucks Ambulance covers a section along the Pineville and Windy Bush area, which will also continue.

“There will be some time needed to get the new service running,” Resnikoff told the supervisors. “We have to secure a station license. There are some things with the communications center that will have to be adjusted. And we have about six or seven people we’re going to recruit and hire to bolster the staff to ensure that this is staffed all the time.

“We also need to purchase a vehicle. There’s one available that we can purchase, but I’m expecting two to three weeks to prepare it for operations,” he added.