There has been a lot of righteous indignation about the cost of the Fire Department responding to medical calls in town. For some medical calls, like motor vehicle accidents, it’s crucial for the Fire Department to respond. They may need to employ the jaws of life to free you from your vehicle or they may need to deal with leaking hazardous material. On calls for medical emergencies, they may arrive prior to the ambulance personnel, putting them in position to provide basic life saving first aid and assess and assist with the situation to speed critical care.
So, how much does this town service cost? Well, it’s not likely the $708,000 that is suggested to be cut from the Fire Department budget by the Finance Committee. According to Acting Fire Chief Richard Coulombe, it’s more like $8,000. Fire Department personnel are already on the clock so there is little extra cost there. The actual costs are most likely fuel and wear and tear on the response vehicle.
To make such a fuss about this particular service provided by the fire department doesn’t seem to make a whole lot of sense. It certainly doesn’t justify recommending cutting $708,000 from the Fire Department budget.
While we’re on the subject of the Fire Department, think about this. Heating oils is now over $4.00 a gallon and will probably go higher. Residents will likely try to find other methods of heating their homes, some perhaps not as safe as they should be. There may be reason to fear an increase in serious fire calls this year. The Fire Department’s call force was reduced to an almost non-existent level after Selectmen voted to retroactively cut their call pay last year. Perhaps prior to making cuts in the Fire Department personnel, efforts should be made to rebuild the call force to an acceptable level.
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I think RT identified other reasons for the cuts. He talked about the size of our department in comparison to other towns our size. Our town has shrunk to below 1/2 of our highest population, but the fire department stays large. How can our town afford to pay for this with fewer than 1,700 taxpayers?
The key word here is "taxpayers". Rumford has alot of people who don't pay taxes. Therefore, Rumford's taxes are also going to support the non-taxpaying citizens of Rumford. That is what is taxing Rumford's taxes.
Flat, Don't most of the citizens pay either taxes or rent?? They pay their $600 per month, and the propery owner pays the taxes from the revenue. You can't blame renters for the poor management system of the past 20 years.
How much tax do all those non-working people who collect state aid pay. Housing is supported by the state. Medical costs are covered by the state. Who is "the State"? That would be all the working taxpayers. Rumford's "management" has accepted this over the years because it was easy money for the town.
We may have less people but we still have the same area and same amount (if not more) of buildings to protect.
It is interesting that you didn't dispute the number of taxpayers, but you played the class warfare card by separating taxpayers from welfare recipients. I included the false number of taxpayers to see if anyone knew enough about the facts to call me on it, but you have proved that you respond based upon emotion and hearsay rather than facts and solid data. Perhaps you should become better informed before attempting to dispute what others post.
The reason for a first responder service is to provide care for a patient when an ambulance is not going to be on scene in the immediate future. This is demonstrated by Andover Rescue who provide care to their residents until Med-Care arrives from over 15 minutes away. Rumford Fire has very few times when they arrive at a scene earlier than Med-Care. They often arrive either at the same time, or within seconds of Med-Care's arrival. The benefit of such a service is negligible at best. The added cost of fuel as well as the danger of having two emergency vehicles operating at "prudent speed" to get to the scene is not justified by the couple of seconds difference in care. Rumford Fire is dispatched for more serious calls. They are not dispatched for calls the involve a stubbed tow or hangnail. Usually, a person needs to be having a problem with either brething, bleeding or consiousness for Rumford Fire to roll. That being said, dispatch is not perfect. Rumford Fire has been sent to calls where a bed-ridden person needs transport to the hospital for a doctor's appointment. Most older people I have spoken to are at least reluctant to call for an ambulance because they don't want "a parade of emergency equipment" coming to their home. One man who expressed this concern argued that he wasn't going to the hospital, but when he finally arrived the doctor asked him how he was still alive. These concerns are eventually going to kill someone. Rumford Fire may believe they are helping, but in reality they are hurting patient care. I think they are just looking for a way to justify their positions in a rapidly shrinking town.
I do not feel this comment is correct. I see these people first hand and most fo the time they are happy to see the fire dept. of scene so quickly in most cases! Most cases I say! On occasion Med-care does beat them or they arrive at the same time, but one thing we must remember is that Rumford Fire provides fire protection along with other functions that sometimes might make thier EMS response a little longer. All in all the first responder program is a real positive thing for the citizens of Rumford. On another note the elderly do hesitate on calling 911 period, not just in teh town of Rumford!
The elderly I have spoken to have expressed the feelings I stated above.
Well this subject is gone now. As of July 1st, 2008 the Fire Department will not be responding to Medical calls.
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