ZANESVILLE -- Local safety officials will begin a feasibility study to look at whether the Zanesville Fire Department should be handling medical runs in the city.
The city's Public Safety Committee met Thursday and councilmen Andy Roberts and David Tarbert said they favored studying the idea of providing EMS service alongside Community Ambulance.
Phil Koster, director of Community Ambulance Service, said he didn't have a problem with the city exploring the idea, since both agencies work well together responding to emergency scenes.
Tarbert said his only concern was with the city's revenue stagnating in the current economic environment, the city might not be able to fund the service.
"I'd like to see a detailed budget and numbers," Tarbert said.
Fire Chief Dave Lacy said providing those services and billing patients would be a new source of revenue. He said there are firefighters trained to handle basic medical emergency situations, but more training was needed to ensure there would be an adequate number of paramedics on staff.
"There are a lot of things to look at before committing to it," Lacy said.
Roberts said it would only make sense for firefighters, who are usually on motor-vehicle crashes and other emergency calls first, to be able to handle those situations.
Fire Lt. Eric Waltemire said firefighters have saved lives by using defibrillators on heart-attack victims before Community Ambulance personnel have arrived on emergency scenes, since each fire truck carries a portable defibrillator.
Firefighter Trevor Meek, president of IAFF Local 88, said he has already checked with several fire departments to see how EMS service is provided and what it would take to make a start here.
He noted Newark and Lancaster have full-time staff, while Falls Township and Crooksville offer part-time services. Crooksville collected about $174,000 last year from patient transports.
"It's absolutely feasible, but there's a tremendous amount of start-up costs," Meek said. "I think it warrants a serious look at it, how it would be administered. But it's not something that could be done in a month, three months or four months."
He said there are federal grants available for buying vehicles and equipment and for money to provide salaries for the first few years of operating an emergency service.
There also was discussion about local officials going to Lancaster to meet with counterparts there to see how that city's fire department handles emergency services.
Roberts recommended the data be collected over the next six months before it is presented to the committee for more discussion.
bgadd@nncogannett.com; (740) 450-6752
