Every minute counts when responding to an emergency.
With this in mind, Springfield Township Fire Chief Charlie Oaks asked the township board for official permission to transport patients with life-threatening injuries (priority one) when no other connection is available in a timely manner.
According to Supervisor Collin Walls, the township currently relies on private ambulances or units from adjacent communities for patient transportation.
In a letter from Oaks to the Springfield Township Board, two developments made securing ambulances from the private companies and neighboring communities difficult and time consuming.
First, cuts in ambulances by AMR have resulted in the posts being further away. Second, the Star Ambulance company only has two Advanced Life Support units on the road often leaving nothing available for Springfield Township.
The letter stated this situation often forces the department to call transporting facilities several times to get a unit.
At the meeting, Oaks said ambulances often take 15 minutes to reach the accident scene in normal traffic. He stressed that in rush hour traffic the same trip can take 30?45 minutes.
The letter stated the decision to transport would be made by the highest officer on the scene to the closest facility (which usually is Genesys Health Park).
Oaks also proposed using Groveland’s fee schedule to recover costs since most intercepts would be using them.
The board recognized a need for discussion on this issue and agreed to have their attorney review the existing ordinance and propose language changes to address the problem.