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SPENCER – Selectmen on June 16 outlined what emergency medical services they wanted in Spencer during a workshop in advance of sending out request for proposals (RFTPs) in a few months.
The board recently approved a one-year contract for Spencer Rescue Squad totaling $325,000, or $100,000 more than the previous contract.
The nonprofit has run the services for 66 years. One of the requests on the recent failed Proposition 2 ½ override would have funded the Spencer Rescue Squad at $100,000 above its existing price for year one and then an additional $25,000 in each of years two and three.
For the next fiscal year, free cash was used but officials have emphasized that is not a common or desired financial practice going forward.
Town Administrator Jeff Bridges shared documents with selectmen, outlining state and local regulations concerning emergency medical services. He also gave them a half dozen sample RFPs from other communities to review.
Bridges said he would have a draft RFP for the town in July.
Selectman Ralph Hicks noted that Spencer Rescue Squad has an advanced life support ambulance 24 hours per day, seven days per week as well as an eight-hour, daytime basic life support ambulance that “95% of the time offers advanced life support,” he said.
There is a third ambulance that is a backup.
Hicks said he believed ambulances should all offer advanced life support given the distance to the nearest trauma center.
In addition, he said that for every 10 mutual aid calls Spencer answers, there are 20 calls where support is provided by other towns. He said if the aid comes from Leicester or East Brookfield, the wait time is not too bad. However, there are cases when ambulances are coming from Charlton, Dudley, Oxford and other communities when time is of the essence.
“Whoever does (the services) should have 24/7 coverage for both ambulances,” Hicks said.
Other services that Spencer Rescue Squad offers that Hicks thinks should continue include free CPR and Heimlich maneuver training and a membership program whereby residents pay a fee and then are not required to pay a deductible for an ambulance ride.
“I hope we don’t have to give things up to save money,” Hicks said. “We’re talking life and death here.”
Selectman Jonathan Viner said it is obvious Spencer is not “carrying its own weight,” when it comes to mutual aid. He said he would rely on guidance from the administration and staff as to how to “bring the numbers into equilibrium.”
Selectman Gary Woodbury said he happened to see a Cataldo Ambulance that was significantly smaller than what Spencer currently has while at a medical facility. (Cataldo recently gave a presentation to the board about possibly taking over services from Spencer Rescue Squad).
Bridges replied that no matter what company (or nonprofit) provides the services, they must be licensed and follow the state rules. He said the vehicle Woodbury saw may have been a transport one rather than a provider of BLS or ALS.
Further, Bridges said, the state requires the provider to have its own location with storage space and is climate controlled with locked up medications, etc.
Viner said it would be advantageous to collect prices on a range of configurations. And he warned against dictating the types of vehicles (box trucks vs. vans) required as they will have to meet state standards in any case.
“Where we specify those types of details puts us in a worse position to receive responses that are fairly priced,” Viner said.
“The more specific you are, the less likely you are to get taken advantage of,” noted chair Jared Grigg.
Larger ambulances give paramedics greater flexibility, Hicks noted, and smaller vehicles cause him concern.
“I’m more concerned with giving something away that the townspeople are used to,” Hicks said.
Grigg said it is more important to ensure key equipment is in place whether box trucks are used or not. He said he would like the continuing education and outreach components to continue.
Viner added he thought the contract should have performance-oriented language as protection for the town. He spoke about having a penalty if mandated staffing levels cannot be maintained, for example.
But Grigg responded that such language would “scare away,” some bidders.
Bridges noted coming up with an RFP is “all about wordsmithing.” He said performance measures are done by response times and criteria is needed.
Member John Howard asked where the town would get an extra $100,000 if the bid is higher than $225,000.
Fire Chief Robert Parsons was asked what sufficient ambulance coverage looked like. Parsons said it would be one ambulance 24/7 and one ambulance eight hours per day during peak times.
However, he said the town should really have two 24/7 ambulances and a third one during the day.
“But the town can’t afford it,” Parsons said.
Woodbury noted that the RFP cannot be just about price, but rather the level of services the town wants to maintain.
