By Natalie Bazinet
Staff Writer
LIMESTONE — The board of selectpeople unanimously approved their portion of a contract amendment with Presque Isle-based Crown Ambulance that would put a paramedic and ambulance in Limestone 24/7 without increasing the town’s per-capita fee.
The contract’s implementation depends on whether or not the Loring Development Authority Board of Directors approves their part of the contract, which they were slated to review during their 9:30 a.m. meeting this morning according to town officials.
The Limestone selectpeople have met with Crown Ambulance officials and LDA President and CEO Carl Flora on multiple occasions over the past few months in executive sessions during their regularly scheduled bimonthly meetings, but potential changes to the town’s ambulance services have been discussed for years.
During a public hearing on Aug. 1, 2012, roughly 45 citizens shared conflicting views regarding a then-potential contract with the Caribou Fire and Ambulance Department, some community members stressed the life-or-death importance of having a full-time ambulance/paramedic in town while others were adamant about not increasing taxes.
Should LDA board members approve the new contract with Crown during their meeting, coverage changes would take place immediately according to Daryl Boucher, TAMC emergency services director.
“The gist of the contract is altering coverage in Limestone to do two things — one is eliminating long distance transfers using the Limestone crew; that would assure coverage in Limestone 24 hours, seven days a week,” Boucher explained during a special selectpeople meeting on Monday night. “The second big piece of the contract is really looking at sharing resources with LDA, and that would be using the firefighter staff at LDA to assist with emergency coverage of Limestone and LDA together.”
Boucher said that a third important piece is changing the level of licensure for Crown’s Limestone crew so that a paramedic, not an EMT, will be paired with the ambulance at all times.
“This alteration changed it to paramedic license level, which guarantees a paramedic at every call 100 percent of the time,” he said. “There’s a lot of other little specific language, but those I think are the essence of the contract that we were trying to accomplish for Limestone.”
Community member Harold Grass asked a question undoubtedly shared by many in the community: “What is the additional cost this will be?”
“Same per capita that we’ve been paying,” Devoe answered.
Limestone’s $11.64 per capita cost with Crown means a $24,106 price tag for ambulance services.
The town had received $2,000 in previous years from Crown for use of the Limestone Fire Department on Route 1A which lessened the overall expenditure for ambulance services, but that sum will no longer be offered to the town after June 30, 2013 according to Town Manager Donna Bernier.
Also in the amended contract is an expectation of shared coverage — meaning the current on-duty firefighter stationed at the Loring fire station would work in tandem with the Crown paramedic and spend at least part of the day at the fire station on Route 1A in Limestone.
Editors note: a call to Boucher’s office on Tuesday afternoon confirmed that Limestone’s per capita rate in 2012 was $11.36.
