Our View

Threat to emergency medical services here has hit a fever pitch

Forming coalition to find solutions good first step

“We're in trouble."

"We're spinning out of control."

These are alarming statements by a man who has given his life to sustaining emergency medical services in Clinton County and is now sounding the alarm that manpower and other shortages are threatening such services.

So while cynics may see Lock Haven EMS Chief Gerard Banfill's statements as overly emotional, Gerard is exactly right in our view.

His emotion is exactly what we all need to see and hear because adequate emergency medical services are at stake here.

Life-saving emergency medical services, we would add.

Here's what else he told the Clinton County commissioners last week:

5 We are not able to recruit (EMS technicians, etc.)

5 The reimbursements are less than 45 to 50 cents per dollar. Any business owner can tell you that you can't pay people well enough to retain them on that budget.

5 It's manpower, finances, reimbursements, recruiting and retention.

5 Without the commitment from us first responders, who comes when we don't show up?

5 Think about that in your own homes. You pick up the phone, if somebody doesn't answer -- when our friends at the 911 center aren't able to staff up. Or maybe the 911 center doesn't have an ambulance to call because there's nobody to call.

So what's the solution when one seems out of reach?

Get our best people together and figure it out.

Gerard, and we're sure others involved, are forming a community coalition to try to address this life-threatening issue, because, he said, if these issues aren't fixed the consequences could be major.

We hope this coalition has a reasonably diverse representation and people with vision who know how to cross territorial and political lines to find common ground.

We need more people who will fight for our rural county as we see medical services in general on the decrease, with UPMC ending in-patient hospital care here.

We also need to convince more professionals -- and people in general -- that living in our little hamlet of the world brings a wonderful pace of life, affordability and cultural, recreation and other amenities locally and just minutes away.

We would bet there are some EMTs, paramedics or trainees living in large metropolitian areas who'd jump at the chance of moving to our beautiful area.