MULLICA’S HIDDEN AMBULANCE REPORT (Cont’... VII. This the previous section posted here posed 8 options...having posted the first 4 options and their ANALYSIS, GadFly now posts the 5th ,6th and 7th option analysis of the hidden ambulance report.)

VIII. ANALYSIS (Cont’)

RETAIN EXISTING SQUAD AS SEPARATE ENTITY WITH SHARED FACILITIES

Housing the ambulance squad in an already existing facility maintained by one of the Township’s four fire departments would eliminate the expense associated with investing in a new building, and would provide a more comfortable environment for the squad. There would most likely be an increased operating expenditure for ent or some other form of compensation paid to the host facility. The cost savings over the above capital projections would be approximately $189,000.

Significant future capital investment wold still be required for equipment, and the issue of the volunteer shortage would still be a concern.

REORGANIZE RESCUE SQUAD A S SUB-UNIT OF FIRE DEPARTMENT AND OPERATE UNDER BANNER OF FIRE/RESCUE

Having one of the already existing fir departments assume the responsibility of operating the ambulance service would also result in the reduction of required capital investment of approximately $189,000 due to the fact that a separate facility would not be required. However, investment would still be required for equipment upgrades and replacements.

The volunteer shortage issue may be improved somewhat with the addition of already existing fire department members participating in emergency services; however, the EMT shortage may not be entirely ameliorated. Skills required of an EMT and first responder differs significantly from those required in fire fighters. This alternative would also put an additional administrative burden on one of the fire departments. The integration and transition to creating a fire/rescue department would be challenging, but the committee feels it may be attainable, once initial resistance was overcome. The key to successful integration would be communication, and a well defined, written plan that identified the expectations of all parties involved.

PARTNER WITH ANOTHER MUNICIPALITY

Further to this issue, the committee explored three different scenarios regarding the regionalization of services with Egg Harbor City. The committee discussed combining volunteer squads, bidding out ambulance services jointly for both communities for 24/7 coverage, and combination of the two: maintaining a volunteer squad with daytime coverage provided by an outside vendor.

The feeling from the committee was that combining our potential service demands with Egg Harbor City may make the business more attractive to bidders, essentially doubling the call volume. Combining the rescue services of the two municipalities would certainly increase the number of volunteers; however, Egg harbor City is facing the same issues as Mullica” it is difficult to staff a volunteer squad during daytime hours. As these alternatives were being discussed with representatives from Egg Harbor City, Egg Harbor City Council apparently made the decision to keep their volunteer rescue service as it is, so on further discussions occurred.