First-responder issue reignites after year of silence
Firefighters will now respond to some medical emergencies
BY JENNIFER KOHLHEPP
Staff Writer

MILLSTONE - Some residents are still pushing for the township's fire department to create a response team that would help reduce the amount of time that a person in a medical emergency situation has to wait for assistance.

It has been more than a year since residents first asked the Township Committee to support the creation of a first-responder team. Although the committee has been receptive to the idea, the development of such a program would require the cooperation of the township's firefighters and first aid squad.

Mayor Nancy Grbelja said that the Board of Fire Commissioners, which oversees the fire department, and the volunteer first aid squad are separate entities that township officials cannot govern.

At the fire commissioners' monthly board meeting June 11, first aid squad Capt. Bob Trifiro attended to discuss the first-responder issue. Trifiro told the firefighters that they could respond to emergency medical calls involving unconscious victims and to calls during which cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) is already in progress.

Grbelja said that the two groups have decided to test this program for six months.

"They may decide more or less should be done," she said.

Resident Frank Malanga, who is a paid firefighter but does not work for the township's department, said, "What about the laundry list of other medical emergencies that if not responded to quickly would result in cardiac arrest or death?"

Malanga, whose wife recently had a medical emergency at home that required the first aid squad to respond, is asking the fire commissioners and the first aid squad to agree upon allowing the firefighters, when available, to be able to respond to all advanced life support (ALS) calls.

"ALS calls are very serious calls in which time is of the essence," Malanga said, adding that such calls could be for a diabetic emergency, an asthma attack or an allergic reaction.

Malanga said he believes that there is some fear among the volunteer first aid squad that the squad would ultimately be phased out if the firefighters assisted with these calls.

"I think strongly that the opposite is true," he said. "If you don't take your heads out of the sand and utilize the resources we have already working in this town, that would cause more harm than good."

Malanga said the paid firefighters working in town 12 hours a day, seven days a week are also trained as emergency medical technicians (EMTs). The town has 10 paid firefighters.

"There is no excuse for not allowing them to supplement EMS [Emergency Medical Services]," he said. "That's what they are trained for, and that's what we pay for."

At the Township Committee's June 20 meeting, Grbelja said that last year the committee decided to try to work with the fire and first aid departments to establish the best services for residents. Committeeman Ramin Dilfanian was appointed as the township's liaison to the two groups.

Dilfanian said he did sit down with both groups but made little progress.

"I can lead the horse to water, but I can't make it drink," he said. "I can get the groups together, but I can't make them cooperate and work together."

When Grbelja became the township's Office of Emergency Management coordinator in February of this year, she got to see for herself a lot of the issues between the two groups. She said there are many factors involved with bridging the gap between the two departments. She said in the fire department alone there seem to be problems with the way volunteer and paid firefighters interact.

"That gap needs a bridge, and then the gap will bridge with the first aid," she said, adding that she does not believe the bridges will be built overnight.

Mike Maloney, president of the local firefighter union, told Grbelja that the paid and volunteer firefighters and members of the first aid squad do not have any problems and continue to build an excellent working relationship.

"We work as a team in one combined unit," he said.

First aid squad member Tina Mitchell said the first aid squad currently does not need the help of the firefighters and that the squad's response times are in line with the mutual aid system in Monmouth County.

She said that allowing paid firefighters to answer medical emergency calls could result in their asking for more money for their services and more equipment, which would increase taxes.

"We'd be doubling what we already got," she said.

Mitchell said volunteers help keep taxes under control but also pointed out that it is important for the township to have the paid firefighters available when needed.

Committeeman Elias Abilheira said the volunteers do a great job but that if they get a call when they are out in their backyard mowing the lawn, they are not going to respond as fast as firefighters who are working at the station.

Abilheira said the Township Committee should look at the possibility of holding a monthly meeting with both departments to ensure that communication between the two entities is flowing smoothly.

Trifiro also attended and spoke at the meeting but noted that his comments were his alone and they did not represent the rest of his 30-member squad.

"We are a group of 30 individuals who think 30 different ways," he said.

Trifiro started by saying that no emergency call in the township goes unanswered. He said the New Jersey State Police, who are trained with the skills to begin CPR, are also dispatched to all emergency calls. If the township's first aid squad cannot make it out to an emergency call, Trifiro said a local mutual aid squad is dispatched.

"Yes, sometimes we can't go out," he said, "but we provide and use this [mutual aid] system which has been in place for 53 years."

Trifiro said the members of the first aid squad regularly have to work with members of the fire department.

"We communicate and talk to each other," he said. "I know the fire commissioners as do the people on my squad. We do try to work together, but the fire department has jobs that it is hired to do and it cannot commit at this time to meet the first-aid needs with five people at a time."

Trifiro said the first aid squad has volunteers who are available and willing to make the sacrifice.

"Our patients' needs are our top priority and the only reason we choose to give of ourselves every day," he said.

After the Township Committee meeting, Malanga said he got the impression that the mayor and the committee have no control over the issue.

"This may force me to force their hand," Malanga said.

Malanga said he will go to the fire commissioners and ask them to put an ambulance on. He said he may even start a petition for an ambulance at the fire station.

Malanga said a benefit of the fire department having its own ambulance is that patients' insurance would pay the department for the rides. According to Malanga, an ambulance ride can cost between $750 and $2,200.

"This would defer the cost of the ambulance, labor [and] the fire budget, and it would be bringing money back into the community," he said.