Are South Windsor Ambulance Corps Members Really Out of a Job?

While a crowd of EMTs and South Windsor Ambulance Corps members left Monday night’s Town Council meeting fearing that they had just lost their jobs, any change that comes – if it comes at all – would likely take months.

That’s because the town of South Windsor is not free to choose its own ambulance service provider. On the contrary, the service provider is designated by the state Department of Public Health, which oversees the state’s emergency services.

The state is divided up into Public Service Areas, often by town, which serve to define an ambulance service provider’s jurisdiction. Those PSAs are awarded to ambulance companies and cannot be revoked except under extreme circumstances, when a town makes a complaint to the Office of Emergency Management Services.  

That is what the town of South Windsor must now do, since it intends to award Ambulance Service of Manchester the contract for both its basic and advanced life support services. Currently, SWAC holds the PSA for South Windsor’s basic life support. ASM provides the town’s advanced life support – or paramedic – services but does not hold a PSA for them.

Town Manager Matthew Galligan indicated that a complaint, in which the town will have to prove SWAC’s care or response is deficient, would be filed.

“I do agree we have to make a case to the office of EMS … We will follow the normal process bringing certain information to the Department of Public Health on why we feel its necessary to change ambulance providers,” Galligan said.

That process - including submitting an application, having it processed, notifying various parties, a comment period and a hearing - has never been successfully completed and would likely take months.

A state task force, of which Galligan is a member, was created to study the issue and will be issuing a report in February. Legislation surrounding the issue is expected about that time. Similar legislation, allowing municipalities the right to determine their own ambulance provider was rejected last session.