ME Chief Says Additional EMS Personnel, Ambulance Needed

Apr. 18—WATERVILLE — Everett Flannery III says what keeps him up at night is a scenario in which the city's two ambulances are traveling bumper-to bumper down Interstate 95 toward the hospital in Augusta and someone in Waterville goes into cardiac arrest.

Flannery, deputy chief of Emergency Medical Services for Waterville Fire Department, says that means the city would have to call for Delta Ambulance or another town that has transport ability to respond to the cardiac call.

With Northern Light Inland Hospital's plan to close its emergency department May 27 and the hospital, June 11, Waterville's ambulances will be taking more patients to MaineGeneral Medical Center in Augusta, Redington-Fairview General Hospital in Skowhegan or possibly other hospitals farther away. Thayer Center for Health in Waterville stopped taking inpatients years ago, so there will be no inpatient hospital in the city once Inland closes.

Waterville has a third ambulance that is ready to put into service; it also has a fourth ambulance in reserve.

Flannery and Waterville fire Chief Jason Frost urged councilors at a budget workshop Thursday to approve an additional $863,361 in the fire department's proposed 2025-26 budget to hire a total of eight paramedics and advanced emergency medical technicians and put the third ambulance on the road in light of the increased need.

That amount includes an increase of medical supplies needed in that ambulance, a small increase in fuel, ambulance maintenance funds and money for EMT training that will be needed with the expected exit of Purdue School of Nursing from the Inland campus. That school trained EMTs, free of charge, or for a reduced fee, Frost said.

Frost gathered information from fire-rescue departments in other municipalities as a way of comparing numbers. South Portland, which has a population of about 26,000 and has 71 firefighters and three ambulances went on 5,712 calls last year, 4,500 to 4,600 of which were 911 EMS calls, Frost said. Waterville, with a population of about 16,500 went on 5,700 calls last year, 4,500 of which were 911 EMS calls, and Waterville has fewer than half the number of firefighters and only two ambulances. Waterville did 902 transports to Inland last year.

Auburn, Scarborough, Biddeford and Brunswick each run three ambulances, and Bangor and Augusta run four each, Frost said. There are three hospitals in the South Portland area where patients are taken by ambulance, Auburn has four hospitals, and Bangor has two hospitals and two psychiatric hospitals.

"We're a small department and we're running big department numbers," Frost said.

He said when he contemplated ways to increase revenues, he concluded that running a third ambulance and continuing the department's paramedicine program were top of the list. The paramedicine program allows EMS personnel to go out into the community to treat people in their homes, see people at the local soup kitchen, check on homeless people, follow up on those who have been released from hospitals to help ensure they don't decline and have to return to emergency departments.

But Frost said the federal government on Thursday pulled back funding for that paramedicine program and he doesn't believe it will come back.

"So, this third ambulance, to me, is even more important," he said.

The city is growing, with several housing projects in the works and more expected, according to Frost. That will increase the population and create more need for EMS services.

Councilor Thomas Klepach, D- Ward 3, asked several questions of Flannery and Frost before saying no one knows what is coming down the line with Inland's closure, so the city has to decide whether to be proactive and increase its EMS capability or take a wait-and-see attitude and be reactive.

"If a third ambulance is something that the citizens of Waterville, through us, think is something we can support, it's not going to be a wasted resource, ever," he said.

But Council Chair Rebecca Green, D- Ward 4, said the council hadn't talked about a financial model and how to pay for the increased EMS capacity. She said there's no question it is what should happen and it was noted Thursday that Delta officials have a financial model and know what it takes to cover Delta's costs, "but our books are balanced by the people of Waterville."

Frost said the proposed fire-rescue budget increase reflects pay for paramedics at the top of the pay scale, and he thought it unlikely that he would be able to get eight paramedics, in which case the $863,361 amount would be reduced.

Eight new hires are needed as two people are needed per ambulance, and the department has four shifts.

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