Bristol Township council postpones decision to terminate Bucks County Rescue Squad as primary EMS provider
By Samantha Bambino
The Times
Tensions throughout Bristol reached a fever pitch earlier this month. In the days and hours leading up to the May 17 Township council meeting, residents took to social media, pleading with fellow residents to attend. A topic of concern for the entire area was a slated bullet point on the agenda — the termination of the Bucks County Rescue Squad as the Township’s primary provider of emergency medical services.
“Bristol Township is considering an ordinance that, in effect, would put the squad out of business, seriously impact response time to Borough emergencies and jeopardize the continued viability of Lower Bucks Hospital,” posted Bill Pezza on the Facebook page of his community action group, Raising the Bar. “Go to the Township council meeting Thursday to encourage the council to reconsider. This is serious.”
The ordinance Pezza referred to would have the Levittown-Fairless Hills Rescue Squad serve District 6 in Bristol Township, replacing the Bucks County Rescue Squad (BCRS), which has been the Township’s primary provider of emergency medical services for more than 80 years.
After the issue was met with such fervent resistance, council president Craig Bowen asked for a motion to table the ordinance’s consideration until the Aug. 16 meeting. Until that date, he said Township manager Bill McCauley will meet with representatives of the BCRS to address “serious management and financial concerns” that led to the ordinance being proposed. The manager will also contact Bristol Borough officials to meet and discuss the long-term viability of the BCRS.
“There were management issues that brought this matter to a head, but the Rescue Squad has operating losses every year and has stayed in business by getting grants,” Bowen said, mentioning how the Township obtained an $83,052 grant in 2015 to allow BCRS to meet payroll.
According to Michael Miller, president of the BCRS board of directors, the Township never expressed to him any such concerns, therefore the Rescue Squad was blindsided when the ordinance first came to light.
“The Bucks County Rescue Squad has faithfully served the citizens of Bristol Township with the highest level of emergency care. There have been absolutely no complaints or issues with the quality of our service, which makes this pending decision even more unbelievable,” he said.
“The only concern we are aware of is the Township’s pay dispute with the former chief of the Rescue Squad who was also a part-time community service officer for the Township,” Miller went on to say. “Incredibly, the Township is now retaliating against the Rescue Squad for unproven allegations that it has made concerning its own employee, without concern for the employees and citizens that will be adversely affected by this arbitrary decision.”
BCRS is the oldest rescue squad in the area, boasting 82 years of pre-hospital emergency medical care to the residents of Lower Bucks County and its surrounding areas. In addition, it sponsors an EMS STRIKE team for deployment to disasters across the United States, an Urban Search and Rescue (USAR) team trained to handle long-duration rescue operations, as well as multiple EMS training programs.
Currently, the Rescue Squad has the financial stability to host these expansive services. However, if it loses Bristol Township as part of its primary response area, the decrease in call volume and loss of funding would force it to lay off a portion of its workforce.
“We are financially viable and there are no allegations, complaints or any indications whatsoever of anything less than proper use of any monies the Rescue Squad has received from Bristol Township,” Miller said. “Bucks County Rescue Squad employs numerous Bristol Township residents who do not want to lose their jobs, but that is what will likely happen if the Township proceeds with its course of action to terminate us.”
He also stressed that the well-being of residents could be affected — if an ambulance is dispatched from a further distance, those extra minutes could mean life or death for the person waiting on its arrival.
Throughout the summer, the plan is for the BCRS and Township to openly discuss and attempt to resolve these issues so both parties are happy. According to Bowen, the ultimate goal of the council is to provide the best emergency services for the residents of Bristol Township and Borough, making sure the service is available when the need arises.
“I am hoping that this additional time will allow us to meet that goal,” he said.
Miller shared a similar sentiment, expressing his relief over these extra few months.
“We are hoping cooler heads will prevail and that Bristol Township will objectively look at this situation and agree to a neutral mediator before taking drastic action that could adversely affect the lives of so many people,” he said. ••
Samantha Bambino can be reached at sbambino@newspapermediagroup.com
