Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, February 4, 1995 TAG: 9502060033
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: A-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: DAN CASEY STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
A combined fire and rescue department would have a single organizational structure and be led by a chief with experience administering both types of systems, according to recommendations to be unveiled by city officials next week.
The recommendations come from a panel of fire, paramedic and volunteer emergency medical service officials. They have been meeting privately for months with help from CenPen Systems, a consultant based in Harrisburg, Pa., that was paid $50,000.
The group also recommends that Roanoke's dwindling volunteer ambulance force - the first one organized in the nation - be retained, said city Finance Director Jim Grisso.
But volunteers would be under the command of paid firefighters, and their equipment and property would be owned by the city, two controversial issues that aren't yet completely worked out.
The recommendations are expected to go before City Council on Feb. 13, and the goal is to implement them by July 1, the beginning of the 1996 fiscal year.
The first signal of the impending merger came at a Jan. 9 City Council meeting when Mayor David Bowers urged council to include the issue as part of budget planning for the next fiscal year.
"It behooves the members of City Council to consider bringing these two departments together if it can produce a better response and better delivery of services," Bowers wrote.
"It's a good idea, and it's way overdue," said Capt. Ed Crawford, president of the Roanoke Firefighters Association and a member of the study committee. Firefighters have been pushing for the merger for more than three years, he said.
"It's going to give [citizens] better service than they've had in the past, quicker response times and more efficient emergency medical care," Crawford said.
Bill Southall, the Fire Department's deputy chief of operations, declined comment until the report is made public.
The emergency medical system now is a hodgepodge. It includes about 50 full-time firefighters who are trained in medical services and are under the command of the city Fire Department; about 40 full- and part-time paid paramedics who work for the city Emergency Medical Services Department; and 65 volunteers with Roanoke Emergency Medical Services Inc. who work alongside the paid paramedics.
Another 100 of the city's 250 firefighters are certified in emergency medical care. But they don't render emergency medical services because only six of the city's 14 fire stations get medical calls.
If the group's recommendations are adopted, all 14 stations will begin handling medical emergencies.
The stickiest part of the negotiations has revolved around the volunteers, who have their own organizational structure and chain of command. Roanoke Emergency Medical Services is cherished locally because its roots go back to 1928. It was the first organized rescue squad in the nation.
In the past, the volunteers have opposed a merger, because they don't want to answer to paid firefighters.
And the city doesn't want to lose them. Previous estimates have pegged the cost of hiring paid replacements at up to $1 million annually.
REMS President Sidney Robertson said the chief concern right now is what will happen to 14 volunteer-owned ambulances and crash trucks. The report recommends the equipment be deeded to the city.
State "law says we can't do that. We can't give ourselves away, give up our [nonprofit] charter and so forth," Robertson said. "And we aren't going to do it, even if the law says we can do it. The volunteers will survive, even if there's just a handful of us left."
The number of volunteers is part of the problem, Crawford said. The city contracts with REMS to provide volunteer staffing for a fixed number of man-hours per month. But over most of the past decade, REMS hasn't been able to keep all its manpower commitments because its ranks are thinning.
Of REMS' 65 active members, about 35 are considered "full-time" volunteers who commit to regular schedules. The remaining 30 are available some nights and weekends but not always, Robertson said.
While the number of volunteers has dwindled, calls for medical help have been increasing. The result has been increased overtime costs for the paid paramedics, Crawford said.
Under the proposed system, volunteers would be scheduled to work as supplements to paid paramedics and firefighters.
Another unresolved issue is who would lead the new department. Fire Chief Rawleigh Quarles has said he will step down March 1. Fire Department sources say a new chief won't be chosen until fall at the earliest, after a nationwide search.
by CNB