Kennett votes Longwood as primary EMS

The Kennett Township supervisors will not change their decision to designate Longwood Fire Company as the township’s primary EMS provider for the majority of 2021.

The board had voted 2-1 in December to have Longwood provide Advanced Life Support (ALS) and Basic Life Support (BLS) to the entire township as of March 1, unless the supervisors adopted a proposal that Kennett Fire Company could submit as an alternative to the one that will take effect in March. Currently, Longwood provides ALS service to the township and BLS service to the eastern part of the township. Kennett Fire Company provides BLS service to the western part of the township.

At the Feb. 3 meeting, the supervisors gave an update on communications with the fire companies and said the township was unable to come to an agreement on any alternative proposals that could have both Kennett and Longwood fire companies responding to EMS calls within Kennett Township.

“Is this the perfect solution?” asked Supervisors’ Chairman Richard Leff. “I don’t know but I know it’s an improvement over what we have.”

Township Manager Eden Ratliff sent Kennett Fire Company a letter on Jan. 25, reviewing the December decision and the Jan. 20 timeframe for Kennett Fire Company to respond. It summarized meetings that supervisors’ Vice Chairwoman Whitney Hoffman and Ratliff had with both fire companies in the weeks following the December meeting.

“A several-hour working session was held between both companies where we worked to build a budget for a two-tier Emergency Medical Service delivery model for the region at the request of Kennett Township,” Ratliff said. “The findings in that meeting were that a two-tier EMS model was not more cost-effective than deploying two Mobile Intensive Care Units (MICU) from one company.”

On Jan. 27, Kennett Fire Company officials responded by letter, proposing a hybrid EMS model where EMS services for the township would include a MICU and an ALS chase car from Longwood Fire Company and a BLS ambulance from Kennett Fire.

“It is our stance that this hybrid model provides less expensive and more optimal coverage to the region,” wrote Kennett Fire President Marc Anderson, Chief Bruce Mitchell, Deputy Chief Steve Melton, and EMS Supervisor/Sergeant Richard Frank. “This model also provides greater flexibility for future expansion, which we believe will be needed sooner rather than later.”

In a Facebook post, Kennett Fire Company officials wrote that while the written presentation was given to the township seven days after the deadline, “the plan submitted is one that had been reviewed and presented in person with township representatives as early as Dec. 17.”

In the letter to the township, fire officials also wrote that the Kennett Fire-EMS operation would continue, regardless of the township’s decision, and that because of that the fire company would not be able to house one of Longwood MICUs in their building.

“We do believe we have the capacity to house an ALS Chase Car with a single 24/7 paramedic,” the Kennett fire officials wrote in their letter. “Therefore, if the decision is made to remove Kennett Fire Company Ambulance from Kennett Township, the closest available unit will not be responding to a large portion of Kennett Township based on apparatus housing.”

Ratliff responded on Jan. 28. In his letter, he notes that the proposal was received late but said the township would respond “in the spirit of regional cooperation.” The letter asks for more information, like “comprehensive” operational and EMS deployment plans, and ways that Kennett Fire would “address the likely increased cost burden to Kennett Township and the Borough of Kennett Square.” It also asks if the fire company had reached out to Newlin, Pennsbury, Pocopson, and East Marlborough townships about how Kennett Fire’s proposal would affect them.

During the meeting, supervisors’ Vice Chairwoman Whitney Hoffman thanked both fire companies for the time they spent “basically taking me to school. Everybody has really helped me understand things better.”

About Monica Fragale

Monica Thompson Fragale is a freelance reporter who spent her life dreaming of being in the newspaper business. That dream came true after college when she started working at The Kennett Paper and, years later The Reporter newspaper in Lansdale and other dailies. She turned to non-profit work after her first daughter was born and spent the next 13 years in that field. But while you can take the girl out of journalism, you can’t take journalism out of the girl. Offers to freelance sparked the writing bug again started her fingers happily tapping away on the keyboard. Monica lives with her husband and two children in Kennett Square.

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