By Bill Bonvie
Staff Writer (Pine Barrens Tribune)
Click for Original Story (Pine Barrens Tribune)
BASS RIVER—During the past two decades, Bass River Township has depended on Squad 85 of the Great Bay Regional Squad EMS, which operates out of adjacent Little Egg Harbor Township, as the primary provider of ambulance service for its residents, who are now estimated to number just over 1,400.
But as of the beginning of next month, that will no longer be the case.
The resolution involved had originally been on the board’s regular meeting agenda the week before, but was put on hold following an executive session in order to allow Mayor Deborah Buzby-Cope to obtain statistics from both Burlington and Ocean counties on Squad 85’s responses to emergency calls, Township Clerk Amanda Somes told the Pine Barrens Tribune.
While the date of the delayed public comment session was advertised in two regional newspapers that publish legal notices, the lack of attendance may have been an indication that residents simply weren’t aware that what could literally be a matter of life and death for some, as the commission members acknowledged, was about to be decided.
The primary reason given for making the switch, the advisability of which was discussed among the commissioners for about 30 minutes, was that the response rate from the all-volunteer Great Bay squad had substantially declined from about 80 percent in past years to about 60 percent on average in recent months, according to the mayor.
“With 80 percent, we always felt, OK, and that we could live with that,” Buzby-Cope said.
Commissioner Louis Bourguignon then responded that, “You can’t play percentages with people’s lives.” and that he did not feel it was right “letting this go on.”
As the concern about delays in response time were discussed by the board, Bourguignon noted that the governing body has a “responsibility to its residents.” He added that the “golden hour” in which a heart attack or stroke victim’s life is in the balance is jeopardized by them having to wait an additional 15 minutes for an ambulance when the volunteer squad is unable to respond.
“I am fortunate I am an EMT, but I cannot be at everybody’s residence,” he said.
The switch in EMT responders will also have financial implications for Bass River residents who require emergency service. Whereas up to now, the township has been paying the volunteer squad $12,000 a year to provide service to whomever might need it, Quality Medical Transport does third-party billing, meaning it will directly bill the patient’s insurance company. In cases where the party being transported is not insured, “they can take it up with the company,” Somes told this newspaper.
One apparent source of the commission’s unhappiness with Squad 85 was its having been notified that the volunteer service planned to send a “cost-recovery incentive letter” to patients to whom it had provided service soliciting a donation from them. The letter, Buzby-Cope said, “was not something that we wanted to take part in,” since, as Deputy Mayor Nicholas Capriglione indicated, it might make financially pressed residents feel obliged to make such a contribution lest they be kept waiting in the event that they again needed an ambulance.
Another concern was that a sufficient number of ambulances were unavailable to the township in the event of multiple emergencies. The mayor said that Quality had told her it had three at the start of each day and “two there at all times.”
“That is huge,” Buzby-Cope said.
The mayor also noted that Tuckerton is “very happy that they have Quality,” which the borough has been using for the past five years.
When Capriglione indicated he wished members of the public had been at the special meeting to weigh in on these issues, the mayor noted that “we can make a decision tonight,” or table the matter until the next regular meeting.
Bourguignon, however, said that he didn’t feel confident the commission could “keep kicking the can down road.”
“That is what everybody does, all these politicians, until something catastrophic happens,” he said.
Buzby-Cope and Somes also expressed disappointment that Squad 85 representatives had failed to accept an invitation to meet with township officials to try to work out some of these problems.
“That is not how professional organizations should run,” Somes said. “That doesn’t solve anything.”
Capriglione, at that point, called for action to be taken without further delay.
“If we lose a resident or a child because we decided we don’t want to change the status quo, I don’t think I could live with myself,” he declared.
In seconding the motion to vote on the resolution made by Bourguignon, however, the deputy mayor noted that the board is “not locked in with Quality” due to a 30-day withdrawal stipulation that will allow the township to make sure it is comfortable with the new arrangement.
The commissioners also approved the issuance of a $6,000 check to Squad 85, which would cover its services for the first six months of the year. The check, the board said, will include an accompanying letter thanking the squad for their services. Capriglione expressed the hope that the volunteer service would continue to perform “in good faith” for the duration of the month of June.
As for any situations in which the new ambulance service provider may not always be able to show up in a timely manner, the township will rely on EMS units in adjacent Galloway Township (in Atlantic County) and Washington Township, as well as hoping that Squad 85 will continue to be on stand-by if needed.
“Thank God we’ve got our own first responders (with the township’s volunteer fire department),” Capriglione added.
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