NORWICH – Local fire and EMS officials confirmed Tuesday that Superior Ambulance Service announced it will be cutting two-thirds of its operation in Chenango County, calling the move a major and unexpected loss.
“This is a terrible blow for us,” said county Fire Coordinator Matt Beckwith, who is also the deputy director of the Emergency Management Office. “They (Superior) laid a bombshell on us yesterday.”
Effective Thursday, due to a reported revenue loss, Superior’s Norwich location will have only one 24-hour ambulance covering the county, creating a drastic adjustment for several outlying townships which depend solely on the private provider for emergency transport services, Beckwith said.
After two separate calls from The Evening Sun Tuesday afternoon, Superior Ambulance officials offered no comment.
“They have a major impact,” Beckwith said, listing Bainbridge, New Berlin, McDonough, Pharsalia and Smyrna as several departments that rely heavily, if not totally, on Superior. “The burden falls on all the other EMS providers in the county to pick up the slack. Their resources may have to be pulled to other calls.”
Unsure of the exact percentage of calls Superior handles county-wide, Beckwith said the number is “significant.” He added that up until Tuesday, the company had said it would retain its normal level of service in the area.
“We’re not happy about this at all,” said Beckwith.
Since Jan. 1, the McDonough volunteer fire department has not had an EMS team. Chief Mike Beckwith said it was cut with the understanding that Superior was committed to keeping up its usual numbers.
“We got no indication from Superior saying ‘we are on the way out’ for some reason,” Mike said. “Without any warning, we’re going to have to do what we can, and hope our neighbors around us will understand.”
The chief said the loss will create a ripple effect, contending that municipal departments – trying to juggle calls normally covered by Superior – will be taken away from emergencies in their own districts more often, and for longer periods of time.
“It puts pressure on them, because they have to cover the calls,” Mike said. “Lord knows where we’ll get ambulances from.”
Both Beckwiths explained that municipal EMS providers and fire departments are all bound by a mutual aid agreement to answer calls when needed. EMS crews like those from Greene, the City of Norwich, Sherburne, South Otselic, and Oxford will most likely have to take on added calls in light of the cutback, Matt said.
“We answer a lot of ambulance calls – in fact we answer more ambulance calls than fire calls,” said acting City of Norwich Fire Chief Joseph Angelino. “I’m sure it is going to have an impact on us. To what degree I can’t say.”
Both Matt Beckwith and Angelino said separately that they have brainstormed with Superior recently on ways to keep the business profitable and operational.
Angelino acknowledged that the emergency services field is challenging – even for a subsidized outfit like a fire department, let alone a private business.
“The Norwich Fire Department has worked closely with Superior for years,” he said. “Superior is a private business, and they have to try and make it profitable as a business – regulations make that difficult. We are subsidized by tax dollars, and it’s still difficult for us.”
Angelino said that declining numbers of volunteer firefighters and emergency technicians – due to stricter requirements and other reasons – are constraining municipal departments’ ability to man ambulances even if they have the equipment, and adding to the shortage in coverage.
“There is just a decrease in volunteerism,” he said.
Fire Coordinator Beckwith said that his office is working with the New York state Health Department, whom has jurisdiction over emergency services requirements at the county level, and talking with other private ambulance companies to see about finding additional service in Chenango County. He said the process could take months.