By C.J. Carnacchio
Leader Editor
Members of the Oxford Fire Department last week presented their case for increased staffing and emergency medical services, now it’s up to township officials to decide what, if any, millage proposals will be placed on the Nov. 2 ballot.
At its Aug. 25 meeting, township officials will decide whether or not to ask voters to approve 1.75 mills for fire department operations and 1 mill to start and maintain an Advanced Life Support program.
If the proposals go on the ballot, the fire operations levy would start in December 2004 and the ALS millage in December 2005. Both would expire with the December 2009 tax collection.
Officials must also decide whether to levy the millage over both the unincorporated (outside the village) and incorporated (village) portions of the township or just the unincorporated township.
Fire Chief Jack LeRoy and members of his department made a presentation as to why these millages are needed before the township board and village council at an Aug. 17 special joint meeting.
The 1.75-mill operations request represents both a renewal of the existing millage set to expire in December 2005 (currently being levied at a rate of 1.3043 mills), plus an increase to finance the hiring of two new full-time firefighters (one EMT and one paramedic/EMS supervisor).
If approved by voters, the last two years of the existing fire operations millage would be voided, and the new one would begin with the December 2004 tax collection.
Currently, the department is staffed by a full-time chief, four full-time firefighters/EMTs (Emergency Medical Technicians) and 25 paid-on-call volunteer firefighter/EMTs.
LeRoy said more full-time firefighters are needed to offset manpower shortages during the daytime hours, when the majority of paid-on-call firefighters are working at their full-time jobs outside the community.
For example, in the case of a structure fire, which LeRoy described as a ‘manpower intensive? situation, federal standards mandate it takes a minimum of eight personnel to set up fire fighting operations.
‘We don’t have the manpower at times to adequately set up an operation, according to federal standards|,? the chief said. ‘That’s very, very alarming to me.?
LeRoy told officials that on Aug. 16, he and the full-time lieutenant were the only fire personnel available during the day to handle calls. Of the three other full-time firefighters, one was on vacation, one was off-duty and one was called away for the day by an emergency.
The chief said he ‘called around? to see if any paid-on-call staff were available, but they weren’t. Even those who are usually available during the day were not that day, he said.
LeRoy said he ‘can’t emphasize enough? the need for more full-time personnel who are ‘in our building? and ‘in our community? to get a’fire operation off the ground initially.?
‘You’re not doing yourself any good if you can’t get your apparatus to its destination in a timely manner,? he said.
It was noted that the number of calls to the fire department increased by 48.6 percent over the last 10 years, from 182 fire calls and 393 medical calls in 1993 to 361 fire calls and 517 medical calls in 2003. LeRoy noted the number of fire calls was so high in 2003 due to the April ice storms.
As of Aug. 17, LeRoy said the fire department has responded to 161 fire calls and 519 medical calls so far this year.
As for the separate1-mill increase for the fire department to establish and run its own ALS, LeRoy told officials it all boils down to increasing response times to increase patients? chances for survival.
Right now, the Oxford Fire Department can only provide Basic Life Support, which consists of simply stabilizing the patient until paramedics and the ambulance arrive to administer ALS.
Currently, the township and village’s ALS is provided by a private contractor, American Medical Response (AMR).
AMR provides ambulances to transport patients to hospitals and paramedics, who have a more training and can administer a higher level of medical treatment than EMTs.
For instance, paramedics can give patients IV drugs, which in the case of something like a heart attack can help stabilize heart rate. The ‘rapid drug therapy? ALS offers is the ‘key to survival,? LeRoy said.
The problem is AMR’s response times are not acceptable, which is endangering lives, according to LeRoy.
The standard average set by the Oakland County Medical Control Board for suburban ALS response time is 12 minutes. LeRoy said AMR currently has an average response time of 14 minutes, 35 seconds.
The chief said a ‘great number? of AMR’s response times are ‘quite frequently? in the 15-to-19-minute range
LeRoy sighted some examples of response times taken from a selection of calls within the last year ‘where rapid response times could make a difference in life and death.?
In the Lake Villa Manufactured Home Park, AMR took 33 minutes to respond to a ‘baby not breathing? call and 30 minutes to respond to a ‘respiratory distress? call.
It took AMR 28 minutes to respond to a Priority One (which denotes the ‘most serious, eminently life-threatening situation?) auto accident, 21 minutes for a call involving CPR, and 22 minutes to respond to a stroke call.
LeRoy contrasted those response times to some medical facts such as:
n ‘A stroke patient has a one-hour window, from the onset of symptoms, in which special drugs can be administered. Once this time passes, it is too late and lasting damage has occurred.?
n ‘The ‘Golden Hour? is commonly referred to for accidents. In a major auto accident we have one hour from the time of the accident to get a patient to the hospital. After that, the curve for survival begins to diminish.?
n ‘In cardiac arrest, a patient will suffer permanent brain damage within 4-6 minutes.?
So why are AMR’s response times so long?
LeRoy explained that AMR’s ‘recent cuts in staffing levels? coupled with its ‘reduced number of paramedic ambulances available? have resulted in ‘extremely long response times in primary service areas.?
First Assistant Fire Chief Pete Scholz explained to officials that as more communities around Oxford provide their own ALS (such as Addison, Brandon, Groveland and Oakland Township as of Oct. 1), AMS has taken more ALS units off the road and converted them to ‘basic rigs? for transporting people between nursing homes and hospitals.
It’s these non-emergency transports which are most profitable for AMR because they are assured reimbursement, LeRoy said.
‘Emergency transports are really not the money-maker for AMR,? he said, noting the company is trying to ‘weed out? areas that are ‘not profitable.?
Scholz noted two recent emergency incidents in Oxford where AMR wasn’t available for transport. One occurred that day of the meeting (Aug. 17) and the Auburn Hills Fire Department had to do the transport for Oxford.
The night before (Aug. 16) there was a Priority Two patient at the Oxford Meijer. Oxford firefighters were on the scene ‘within a minute? and worked with the patient for approximately 10 minutes before, according to Scholz, AMR told dispatch its ‘closest transport rig was at Troy Beaumont Hospital,? which is located at M-59 and Dequindre Road in Macomb County.
As a result, the Oxford Fire Department was forced to transport the patient to Lapeer Regional Hospital, Scholz said.
Scholz noted the Oakland Press has reported in its recent articles about the new Village of Holly Fire Department that Holly will be serviced by the AMR ambulance ‘based in Oxford.?
‘That is a boldfaced untruth,? he said. ‘There’s not an AMR rig in the Township or Village of Oxford.?
If voters approve 1-mill for ALS service, LeRoy said, the fire department would hire four full-time firefighters/paramedics (called Fire/Medics). The current four full-time firefighters/EMTs and the one of the two full-timers hired with the new operations millage, if approved, would also be trained as paramedics. The other full-timer hired with the operations millage would already be trained as a paramedic.
Oxford would therefore be staffed by 10 full-time fighters/paramedics, thus allowing the department to staff both stations 24 hours a day, seven days a week beginning in 2006.
LeRoy said the dual nature of these positions is very important in light of the pressing need for more full-time firefighters.
‘As much as we need ALS, we need firefighters,? he told officials.
Township Treasurer Joe Ferrari asked Addison Fire Chief George Spencer, who was on hand for the meeting and is an Oxford resident, if his department’s conversion to ALS in Feb. 2002 was a ‘good move??
‘The service is significantly better,? said Spencer, noting Addison’s ALS response times went from ‘over 20 minutes? under the previous private provider ‘down to six (minutes)? now.
In addition to deciding if they will place the operating and ALS millage proposals on the November ballot, township officials must also decide if they should be levied over the entire township (including the village) or just the unincorporated portion (excluding the village.
Since 2000, the village has levied its own fire operating millage by a vote of the council, which it has the authority and power to do, and the township has levied its own unincorporated voter-approved millage.
Some township officials, like Trustee Shirley Clancy, said they would like to see the millages levied over the entire township so village residents could have the option of voting for it.
‘I think if the ballot proposals move forward, it should be over the entire township because, by not doing that, what it does is it denies village residents . . . an opportunity to speak to the issue,? Clancy said. ‘I just think everybody should be given that opportunity to vote.?
?(Village residents) deserve the opportunity to speak to this issue just like somebody outside that village boundary,? she said. ‘I just feel every citizen within those 36-square-miles should have the opportunity to vote on this topic, if its the choice of the (township) board to put it on the ballot.?
Some council members argued that it’s their role as elected representatives to make decisions that affect the health, safety and welfare of village residents.
‘If we as a village council decide that it’s time to levy an ALS millage and an increased fire millage to bring that protection level up to snuff, that’s what those people elected us for,? said Councilman Steve Allen. ‘You guys can’t do that. In the township, you don’t have that option. We have the option and we choose to exercise it.?
Village officials expressed their desire to continue levying their own matching or equivalent fire millage and not be included in the township’s millage proposals.
If unincorporated township voters were to pass these millage proposals, council has indicated via a ‘consensus,? not an official vote, it would levy and contribute a matching millage amount to the fire department.
‘I would rather the village council make the decision to levy it, if it passes in the township,? said village President Renee Donovan.
Some township officials expressed concern over what happens if the village council at some point in the future decided to not continue levying an equivalent fire millage.
‘As long as the millage is floated, the village would contribute their portion of that to it,? Allen said in response.
‘It’s not an option if the village council approves doing that over the life of the millage,? Allen said. ‘Future councils will be tied to that decision.?
‘We decide to match the funds, it will be done in such a way that it will fund the same programs you (the township) are funding for the same length of time, period,? Allen said.
‘Just something you need to keep in mind as you’re mulling this over, is what has stopped us since 2000 from saying we don’t want to fund fire millage anymore?? the councilman noted. ‘We haven’t done that. That’s an irresponsible act and it will not be done.?
‘If the voters of the township decided that this was the right way for the community to go, the council would most definitely take action and do something that would run in parallel with the (tax) collection period that the township was doing and yes, that would tie the hands of future councils, Allen said. ‘If the entire council turned over after that motion was passed, that new council would be tied to the passage of that. You cannot commit funds and then uncommit them. It doesn’t work that way.?
‘We have no intention of backing out of this agreement, once we get into it,? the councilman said.
Councilman Dave Bailey noted future councils would be ‘legally obligated and also morally obligated? to abide by the previous council’s decision.