PACE rescue calls hampered by geography

By Gail Geraghty
Contributing Writer

HARRISON — Their paramedics are top-notch, and they have more staff and rescue units on standby than anyone else in the region.

But a 23-minute response to a rescue call on Deertrees Road that resulted in a death last November has sparked an emotional debate on whether PACE Paramedic Service in Norway is just too far away to be relied upon as the sole provider of ambulance service in Harrison.

“If you look at a map, it’s as clear as day,” said Selectman Lisa Villa Tuesday, as the Board of Selectmen continued their discussion of whether to call upon United Ambulance Service, based in Bridgton, to handle calls in the Village, and perhaps also asking Naples Rescue to respond to calls in the southern part of town. The board will take up the issue again at its March 2 meeting.
The meeting made clear that maps don’t tell the whole story. Having first responders with advanced life support training who can reach the scene in minutes is often just as important as how fast an ambulance gets there, said PACE Director Bob Hand. “The first responders are just priceless here,” he said, often relaying crucial information to ambulances enroute.

In response, selectmen also discussed whether forming a trained first responder team from the ranks of the fire department would be a better solution over a system that splits the town into districts for dispatching rescue calls.

Five members of the Harrison Fire Department — four who work for PACE, one who works for United — are interested in taking classes to provide a trained first responder unit for rescue calls, said PACE worker and Harrison firefighter Dana Laplante. Laplante said he already routinely provides advanced life support service on fire calls if needed. “It’s not going to be a big jump for us” to become a formal unit, with the proper equipment on the town’s new squad truck, he said.

Captain Bill Holmes, director of the Cumberland County Regional Communications Center, made it clear he didn’t have a preference, saying all three rescue services do “a bang-up job.” Two years ago, Holmes recommended the town stay with just one rescue service to avoid delays in routing calls. But he hadn’t considered response times in making that recommendation, and since then the town has been split into three districts for routing fire calls. “The technology exists for us to be able to do that,” for rescue calls as well, he said, and acknowledged that “each ambulance has a quicker response time from their home base.”

For the 154 rescue calls dispatched last year, United reached the Village and upper Route 35 in an average of under 10 minutes, while it took PACE an average of 15 to 20 minutes. Naples clearly had the quickest response in southern Harrison of under 10 minutes, and also was on average at least five minutes quicker than PACE in reaching the Village. With the exception of the northeast part of town, transport time to Bridgton Hospital was also quicker than to Stephens Memorial Hospital in Norway, PACE’s home base. 

But while Holmes was neutral on the issue, Naples Rescue Unit Deputy Chief Chris Burnham said he had some concerns about extending service to the southern part of Harrison.

“Our number one priority is covering Naples, and it’s always going to be. Anyone else plays second fiddle,” said Burnham, who said Naples has opted for “a very high level of service, budgeting $385,000 last year. Because they’re a municipal department, as opposed to a private service like PACE and United, “we’re not going to do this for free,” he said.

And while they’re always happy to provide mutual aid, Naples Rescue handles an average of three calls a day — 900 calls a year — and sends its ambulance to all fire calls. If it is contracted with Harrison, Burnham said Harrison would also have to pay for the cost of providing coverage at the Naples station when Naples is in Harrison responding to a call. Naples handled around 60 mutual aid calls last year in the southern part of Harrison.

“If you’re talking about reducing response time, there’s the folks,” he said, pointing to the Harrison firefighters in attendance. As non-transport EMS responders, they can stabilize a patient and get him or her ready for transport when the ambulance arrives. “I would strongly advise you to get a first responder unit.”

Burnham’s comments led selectmen to consider splitting the town between PACE and United, leaving Naples out of the equation for now. United Ambulance Director Paul Gosselin said he’s willing to provide service to Harrison, and said that while “there’s a lot of positives” to creating a first responder unit for Harrison, “time is money.” 

However, Villa, a former EMT, said “a first responder unit is not a substitute for a paramedic with an ambulance.”

Laplante took issue with that comment, pointing out again that he has Advanced Life Support training, and said Villa was trying to “muddy the waters” with the public’s perception of the issue.
But Villa persisted. “Can you give advance life support and transport at the same time?” she asked, to which Laplante responded that he could not. Villa continued, “If we can, we’re saving precious minutes, and that’s not muddying the waters.”

Using aerial maps, she pointed out the obvious geographical challenge faced by PACE in responding to calls in the Village and points south. “There’s no question that the service that can respond the quickest to the Village is United. It’s not going to cost us anything, and it makes sense.”

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