Source The Press of Atlantic City, Pleasantville, N.J.
Nov. 30--OCEAN CITY -- City Council on Tuesday proposed replacing six full-time firefighters with emergency-medical technicians to save money.
Councilmen Keith Hartzell and Scott Ping presented a new model under which the city's Fire Department would rely more on medics. Ocean City sees far more medical calls than actual fires. But the department responds to hundreds of emergencies, including car accidents and water rescues.
"We believe we can save money without sacrificing public safety," Hartzell said.
Under his proposal, the city would replace retiring firefighters with EMTs. This would ensure the city has enough trained firefighters on hand to respond to a fire while freeing up more EMTs to respond to medical calls. It reduces the number of trained firefighters from 18 to 17 per platoon per shift.
If implemented, the proposal would save as much as $460,000 per year -- more if the city used more EMTs to offset firefighter overtime, Hartzell said.
Several members of the fire union stood quietly in the back of Council Chambers during the presentation.
Ping said part-time EMTs could help address the surge in medical calls on the south end during the summer. The city has debated whether to close one of its three firehouses to save money. But Hartzell said he was not ready to address that question.
Ping said he has not discussed the proposal with any city firefighters.
"Most of them won't talk to me because they think I'm trying to take something away from them," Ping said.
Council plans to conduct a workshop meeting on the proposal in coming weeks.
Union President John Murphy said he has not had a chance to study the proposal in depth. But his initial reaction was to question whether the changes would result in true savings.
And he questioned how council could draft such a detailed report about the Fire Department without its input.
"It's hard to see how a paper salesman and a butcher can come up with a proposal without any fire department professionals there to offer their expertise," he said in reference to Hartzell's and Ping's occupations.
Hartzell said he relied on staffing numbers provided by former Chief Joseph Foglio Jr. Since Foglio's retirement this year, Mayor Jay Gillian appointed Charlie Bowman to the dual role of deputy chief and acting chief.
Murphy said the city should make no changes to Fire Department staffing until a new chief is named who can serve as advocate for the department and city residents.
Contact Michael Miller:
609-463-6712
