Thursday, October 28, 1999
Ambulances to go private?
Firefighters union objects to cost-cutting study
BY PHILLIP PINA
The Cincinnati Enquirer
A demand by Cincinnati City Manager John Shirey that the fire division cut costs has created an uproar among firefighters. One of the ideas being studied is privatization of some ambulance service.
More than 150 firefighters took their case to city council Wednesday afternoon, filling the panel's meeting room. They are concerned that cuts and privatization would endanger their livelihood, as well as the safety of city residents and visitors.
“This is a safety factor,” said Mark Sanders, president of the Cincinnati Fire Fighters Local 48.
The area being studied for privatization is response to calls now made by six basic life support ambulances operated by the fire division. The division has another four advanced life support ambulances.
The study is prompted by budget overruns due to a new requirement that four firefighters be assigned to each apparatus.
The city and firefighters union agreed to the new four-per-company rule in the most recent contract negotiations ratified in June 1998. The reason: Firefighter safety and studies that show bigger crews mean fires are attacked quicker and any victims are more likely to be rescued, Mr. Sanders said.
In August 1997, Fire Lt. Jerrold Ware was critically injured while rescuing a 4-year-old girl trapped in a North Fairmount blaze. He fell from the fourth floor of an apartment building. The fire department was dependent on three-man crews at the time, Mr. Sanders said.
The crew didn't have the manpower to quickly get a water hose up a ladder, and rescuing the girl could not wait, Mr. Sanders said. It almost cost Lt. Ware his life.
But implementing the new manpower requirement has not been easy. City council upped the fire division's budget for salaries by 6 percent. Actual costs rose about 12 percent, $3 million more than anticipated, Mr. Shirey said Wednesday. Most of the increase was due to overtime expenses to make sure there were enough firefighters.
These are costs that will continue to need funding, Mr. Shirey said. A recent review of the city's finances predicted a budget deficit by the year 2003, with higher fire division costs a major reason.
To balance future budgets and make up for the cost overruns, Mr. Shirey asked all city departments to cut their budgets by 2 percent, with the exception of the fire division. He has been meeting with the fire chief and other division staff this past week looking for ways to cut costs.
During those talks, a suggestion was made to look at medical services and possible privatization of the basic life support, or non-emergency ambulances. .The city has yet to study the plan, let alone make any decision on it, Mr. Shirey said. He added that he is not sure it would even save money.
The suggestion was enough to make firefighters nervous. Putting emergencies into unknown hands is a risk, they told city council members. The fire division responds to about 45,000 medical emergencies a year,rthe majority being basic life support. Most often, firefighters are first on the scene and arrive within five minutes. It doesn't make sense to give that responsibility to anyone else, Mr. Sanders said.There was no suggestion to look at privatizing the four advanced support ambulances.
Councilman Charlie Winburn offered his support to the firefighters. He suggested the fire division be off limits to budget cuts and blamed the city administration for not anticipating the cost overruns.
There are a lot of pressing issues facing the city, including a $2 million shortfall in money for its health department, said Mayor Roxanne Qualls. She urged Mr. Winburn and other council members to let Mr. Shirey seek out solutions to the financial crunch.
“Before we start drawing lines in the sand, we need to give Mr. Shirey the latitude to present us options,” Ms. Qualls said. “Mr. Shirey is going to have to balance the budget.”
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