Friday, August 15, 2008

Fire / EMS - What are those firefighters asking for?

The EMS contract with Heartline Medix runs out next June 30th, and we have been looking at options when that contract ends. Columbus could put out a bid and hire an independent contractor to provide ambulance service. We could ask a neighboring municipality to provide EMS services, we could provide ambulance service ourselves. The firefighters are asking the Council to give them the opportunity to explore the option of providing ambulance service through their department.

Years ago we used to have fire / EMS services. Many of our neighboring communities have the combined service, some of them much smaller than Columbus.

The fire fighters are asking the Council to give them help to put together a proposal that would combine these services. They want to use an expert who is experienced in current rules and operations. They need some consulting money to create the cost benefit analysis to keep them in the game for EMS services.