Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, January 23, 1993 TAG: 9301230278
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: A-3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: JOEL TURNER STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
COUNCILMAN URGES MERGER OF FIRE, RESCUE
Roanoke Councilman William White believes the city could answer emergency-rescue calls faster and save money if its emergency-medical system was merged with the Fire Department.White believes the response times could be reduced by approximately two minutes if there were a merged system, because the firehouses are in the neighborhoods and travel times would be reduced.
The city has 14 firehouses scattered throughout the city but only three emergency-rescue stations.
"It could be the end of the volunteers," said Sidney Robertson, president of the Roanoke Emergency Medical Services, Inc.
"We don't want be part of a system that is run by the Fire Department," Robertson said Friday.
Roanoke Emergency Services was created by the merger of the Roanoke and Williamson Road lifesaving crews.
There has been friction in the past between some firefighters and volunteer rescue squad members, Robertson said.
"If they merge it with the Fire Department, something would have to be worked out," he said.
But Ed Crawford, president of the Roanoke Fire Fighters Association, said the volunteers would still be needed if the EMS system was merged with the Fire Department.
"We want to do what we can to improve the service and we have been working toward a merger," Crawford said.
White also thinks the volunteers would be needed in a merged system.
Firefighters at three fire stations already answer emergency calls on a first-response basis. The city intends to start a similar program at a fourth fire station this year.
In these areas, firefighters provide assistance until full-time paramedics or other emergency-medical personnel arrive or they determine that no other help is needed.
If more firefighters were trained to answer calls and the Fire Department supervised the system, the city would not have to hire more emergency-rescue personnel to handle the increasing number of calls, White said.
Nearly half of the city's 245 firefighters have already completed training to be emergency-medical technicians.
But some council members are hesitant to change the current system because they don't want to jeopardize the city's relationship with the volunteers.
They fear that it could be more expensive if the system is merged with the Fire Department. If the volunteers quit, it could cost as much as a $1 million a year to replace them, said Councilman James Harvey.
"You have to be very careful about making changes. We have an obligation to history because the first rescue squad in the world began here," Harvey said.
"The heart of our system is the volunteers and we don't want to lose them," Harvey said.
The city has a committee of emergency-rescue workers and firefighters that is studying merger issue. The committee members have visited several cities to see how they provide emergency-medical services. The group has not reached a conclusion and will resume its work in the spring, said Wanda Reed, manager of emergency services for the city.
Fire Chief Rawleigh Quarles could not be reached for comment Friday, but Crawford estimated that at least 80 percent of the firefighters favor a merger.
Now, the city has a combined system that is coordinated and supervised by the city's Emergency Medical Services Department. It includes three groups:
Approximately 120 volunteer rescue squad members.
Twenty-five full-time paramedics and emergency-medical technicians, and 26 part-time emergency-rescue employees.
About 120 firefighters who have completed training to be emergency-medical technicians.
An advisory committee on the EMS system has recommended that the city keep its current arrangement, with the Emergency Medical Services Department continuing to monitor and supervise the system.
Reed said this committee, which includes doctors, citizens and city employees, is separate from the one that is studying the merger issue.
The advisory committee has recommended several changes to strengthen the EMS system, including a "first-responder" program at Fire Station No. 13 to improve the response times in the Peters Creek Road area. Firefighters would respond to calls and provide assistance until paramedics could arrive.
The committee has also recommended the creation of two additional positions: a training officer and resource officer who would provide administrative support.
City Council will consider the committee's report Monday.