Posted: Oct. 27, 2009

Mequon — A clear chain of command, consistent training for all emergency medical technicians, and clearly defined operating guidelines are only a few of the expected improvements that would result from the consolidation of the city's Fire and Ambulance departments. That consolidation could be only a few months away, pending some changes to a proposed ordinance that would govern the new department.

A memo signed by both Fire Chief David Bialk and Ambulance Director Michael Plotkin laid out the advantages of consolidation and recommended the city take the necessary steps to make it happen at a Public Safety Committee meeting Tuesday night.

"We could improve service and efficiency by combining the fire and ambulance departments," Bialk said. Bialk estimated a conservative savings of $20,000 as a result of the consolidation.

City Administrator Lee Szymborski said the recommendation to combine the departments is similar to the consolidation of other departments taking place within city government this year. For instance the engineering and public works departments were joined this fall with the director of public works now overseeing the department.

Bialk would oversee the consolidated fire and ambulance department, under the proposed ordinance.

Policy might discriminate

Alderman Dan Abendroth, who is also a paid on-call firefighter, raised the only substantive question about the ordinance. He said the ordinance appeared to discriminate between those who are currently members of both departments vs. those who are members of only the Ambulance Department. Members of the Fire Department become honorary members at age 60 and no longer fight fires and would also no longer be allowed to provide emergency medical services.

Under the proposed ordinance, members who are only part of the Ambulance Department at the time of consolidation would be grandfathered and allowed to continue after they are 60.

"I have a concern as a taxpayer that we don't create an employment policy that could result in litigation down the line," Abendroth said. "If you are 60 and belong to the Fire and Ambulance departments, you lose your job at 60. If you are 60 and ambulance department only, you keep your job."

City staff agreed to review that provision.

Szymborski said that the consolidation has been discussed in bargaining sessions with the Mequon Fire and EMS Association. No firefighters or EMTs will lose their jobs as a result of consolidation, he said. Ten members of the department listened to the discussion Tuesday night but had no comment after the meeting.

Bialk, who has been chief for three years, made changes in structural organization in the Fire Department two years ago, among them reducing the number of fire/EMTs who respond to emergency medical calls from an average of 16 to an average of 8.9. The department provides EMTs in special first responder vehicles which are not equipped to take patients to hospitals. The city's Ambulance Department transports patients who need to go to the hospital, typically arriving after the first responders because of the need to go to the fire stations to get an ambulance.

Service should improve

The memo suggests that response times and service to patients would be improved with consolidation of the two departments.

"The real issue is what can be the best service for the people we serve," said Mayor Christine Nuernberg, who attended the meeting and praised members of both departments for the service they provide. She particularly praised Bialk and Plotkin.

"There have been hiccups (in service) that have resulted in no response by the Ambulance Department or 30 minute response times that they want to correct with this plan," she said.

Ambulance department personnel failed to answer calls on Dec. 26, 2008 and on Jan. 1 and Jan. 2, 2009. Fire Department EMTs covered the calls. The Thiensville Fire Department provided an ambulance needed at one of the calls. An "open page" system used to summon ambulance employees was discontinued on holidays as a result.

The committee plans to continue its discussion of the ordinance at its meeting in November, typically held on the fourth Tuesday of the month.