A graph shows the increase in emergency medical response calls received by Agawam since 2012.
Photo credit: Agawam Media
AGAWAM — The Agawam Fire Department is taking unique steps to address a staffing shortage and improve response windows at the same time. Instead of trying to hire more dual firefighter/paramedics to answer the ballooning number of emergency medical service calls the department receives, Fire Chief Alan Sirois collaborated with Mayor Christopher Johnson and the firefighters’ union, Local 1973, to hire dedicated paramedics outside the state’s civil service model.
As Sirois explained at the Oct. 10 City Council meeting, EMS call volume increases 4.8% year over year. About 85% of all calls received by the Fire Department are for emergency medical services. In 2012, the department managed about 3,500 calls with two crewed ambulances. Last year, it handled nearly 5,500 — still with two ambulance crews.
“The Agawam Fire Department in the poster child for doing more with less,” Sirois said.
When the city’s ambulances are on a call and another call for service is received, the city calls for mutual aid. The mutual aid model, in which a surrounding community will send personnel and equipment to help a neighbor, is used by nearly every fire department in the state. There are downsides to the practice, however.
Ambulance services, whether private or municipal, charge health insurance companies when a medical transport is needed. When an ambulance from another municipality answers the call for an emergency transport in Agawam, that municipality receives the revenue from the call. Additionally, while Agawam’s average ambulance response time is seven minutes and 18 seconds — well below the eight-minute benchmark set by the National Fire Protection Association — ambulances traveling from outside the city average a response time of 11 minutes and 52 seconds. Those minutes can make all the difference in a medical emergency, Sirois said.
To ensure more of those calls are answered by the Agawam Fire Department, Sirois proposed creating six impact shift paramedic positions. Agawam is among the first communities in the state to use impact shift paramedics, and the only municipality in Western Massachusetts to do so.
The dedicated paramedics would staff a third ambulance during the department’s busiest time, between 8 a.m. and 6 p.m. Two squads of three paramedics would work on opposite days, providing coverage throughout the week.
Sirois explained that there were a few different benefits to using paramedics instead of dual firefighter/paramedics. First, he said, there are fewer people entering the fire service than in years past, making it difficult to attract quality candidates. Further, because Agawam is a civil service community, it must hire dual firefighter/paramedics from the state’s civil service firefighter list. However, paramedics do not fall under this model, giving the city a wider pool of candidates. Sirois also said the salary for paramedics is lower than it is for firefighter/paramedics.
Hiring the paramedics would not cost the city any additional money, Sirois said. Instead, the salaries would be offset by the increased revenue from ambulance calls that are now answered by mutual aid and savings from not requiring overtime and “call backs” from the Fire Department’s existing personnel.
City Council President Anthony Russo praised the services provided by the Fire Department. “As someone’s whose father was a regular frequent flier, unfortunately, in your ambulances due to a lot of health issues, I’ve watched firsthand how quick you guys are, how you operate. I know how important response time [is.]” Russo credited the quick response of the firefighter/paramedics with saving his father’s life when he experienced a heart attack.
“I think it’s a no brainer,” said Councilor George Bitzas. We have to have that. We benefit, not only with taxpayers because we give money to the other communities, but for our safety.”
Councilor Robert Rossi described the proposal as “an absolute win” for the Fire Department and the community, while Councilor Anthony Suffriti offered “kudos” to Sirois for thinking “outside the box.”
The council voted unanimously to provide the new paramedics with retirement benefits in line with other first responders and to accept portions of a state law that made the new paramedics eligible for line-of-duty benefits.
