The Burns Harbor volunteer Fire Department was authorized this week to apply for certification to transport the injured or ill using basic life support protocol when Porter hospital Emergency Medical Services ambulances are delayed.

The Fire Department currently provides BLS care at a medical or incident scene using its equipped 2006 ambulance but cannot transport patients.

The Burns Harbor Town Council also voted 5-0 Tuesday to research the liability, cost and implications of allowing the Fire Department to treat more serious medical emergencies using advanced life support or ALS certification.

Said Councilman Mike Perrine, “We’re talking the lives and health of people in our community.”

According to fire chief Bill Arney, “We don’t want to be a frontline, to take over ambulance service.” Porter EMS would remain the preferred ambulance provider.

However, Arney told the council increasingly on occassion PEMS ambulances are out on call and there’s a delay reaching Burns Harbor. “It’s not Porter County’s fault. They’re doing a great job.” But during one delay “we waited well over 20 minutes with a lady on the floor in agonizing pain.”

PEMS ambulance director Gary Atherton said Thursday, “We have five ambulances in the county. Most of the time that’s adequate but on busy days there’s no guarantee all five won’t be out at the same time.”

Two ambulances are staffed at the PEMS station in Chesterton on Porter Avenue. If both are out, Atherton said one rig from Valparaiso is moved to Indiana 49 and County Road 600N on stand-by when possible.

Atherton also said Burns Harbor’s Fire Department operates a good BLS non-transport service already and on the surface adding transport capability doesn’t seem to harm patient care. “I don’t think it would be a detriment at all. We want what’s best for the patients.”

He noted of PEMS’ approximately 7,500 ambulance calls per year, about 10 percent are true emergencies where time is of critical importance.

Arney said if his department becomes BLS-transport certified, Burns Harbor could make the ambulance run itself, begin patient transport and if necessary a PEMS medic could come onboard the town’s ambulance enroute, or the patient could be transferred to a PEMS rig.

Atherton said the acuteness of the patient’s problem would determine the best course of action.

Paramedics with more extensive medical training are required to staff ALS ambulances while emergency medical technicians can staff BLS rigs. Arney said Burns Harbor has 17 EMTs on the department and five paramedics.

Ideally, Arney said he’d like Burns Harbor to provide ALS care as-needed and be BLS transport-certified carrying ALS supplies. The cost of the latter, including narcotic and intervention medications, would be more, the chief added, and the liability insurance would increase.

Council president Jim McGee said insurance could be a significant cost. Clerk-treasurer Jane Jordan said she’s in the process of determining what it would be.

Arney said one drawback if the Fire Department wanted to be certified for ALS transport is that would require 24-hour staffing by paramedics. Instead, he wants to assign duty at the fire station in shifts for 24-hour BLS coverage like a full-time department but staffed by part-time volunteer firefighters.

“There aren’t any downfalls. It’s like getting a full-time department with quicker response,” he told the Town Council.

In addition to PEMS, Atherton said South Haven, Portage and Valparaiso as well as some private providers operate ALS transport services in the county. Chesterton, like several fire departments, provides non-transport BLS service.

Burns Harbor Councilman Louis Bain said the town would have to set up a billing schedule and billing procedure for its ambulance transports, and he asked whether the Fire Department would be called to transport outside town limits.

Arney said if agreements are in place the ambulance could assist PEMS as needed like the current mutual aid pacts for fire service.

Posted 12/18/2009