By Susan Danseyar
Journal Inquirer, Manchester, Conn.
WOODBRIDGE, Conn. 鈥� Alan Davidson says his town鈥檚 agreement with American Medical Response to run its emergency medical services has taken away any worries he may have previously experienced.
鈥淲e are a town with an aging population and also have two public schools,鈥� said the retired doctor. 鈥淚 must say the contract has given me, an 87-year-old person, peace of mind.鈥�
Davidson responded to CT Insider after reading that some towns in the state are feeling challenged by rising call volumes and meeting desired response times while facing a shortage of volunteer emergency medical technicians or a fear of retaining them.
He and officials said Woodbridge鈥檚 partnership since 2001 with AMR, a national company that is part of Global Medical Response, has improved response times.
Davidson is a member of the town鈥檚 Emergency Medical Services Commission along with Roy M. Ivins, who said the contract with AMR calls for a permanent paramedic to be stationed in the center of town 24 hours a day, seven days a week, with a response vehicle equipped with all equipment necessary for providing advanced life support, or ALS.
Woodbridge pays AMR a monthly subsidy, according to the first selectman鈥檚 office. The flat rate payment for the 2023-24 fiscal year was $26,074.67 a month for an annual total of $312,896.
Ivins said commission members oversee AMR鈥檚 monthly data reports to make sure response times to all life-threatening emergencies are under nine minutes. Usually, he said, response times are about five minutes.
About nine minutes was the average response time across Connecticut for EMS calls in 2022, according to the state鈥檚 Office of Emergency Medical Services . Response time is calculated from the moment dispatch notifies an agency of an emergency to the moment a crew arrives on the scene.
The average response time for Woodbridge was 7.38 minutes in 2022, according to the most recent report from OEMS. The 2023 report is awaiting final approval and will be ready at some point this summer, according to data manager and epidemiologist Eliza Little .
According to OEMS data for 2020-22, urban towns had the most calls at 483,913, with the shortest average response time of 7.39 minutes. Suburban towns had 95,789 calls with an average response time of 8.12 minutes. Rural towns had the fewest calls at 89,895 yet the longest average response time of 10.7 minutes.
Woodbridge officials say they are pleased with AMR鈥檚 emergency medical ambulance transport services, Ivins said. 鈥淲e tried a few options that weren鈥檛 working as well, primarily because we were trying to do this on our own with our safety services,鈥� he said about the town鈥檚 emergency medical services prior to 2001. 鈥淩esponse times have gone down significantly and now there鈥檚 a paramedic who can treat someone on the spot whereas an emergency medical technician might have to have the person transported to a hospital.鈥�
Residents seem to be pleased with AMR as well, according to responses they鈥檝e given on an anonymous survey the town offers, Ivins said.
Michael Turcio, operations manager AMR New Haven, said a paramedic is the highest level of EMT. He said AMR鈥檚 paramedic response vehicle is equipped for providing advanced life support including 鈥� but not limited to 鈥� first-aid supplies, oxygen, cardiac monitors, defibrillation equipment, an ALS drug kit, airway stabilization equipment, pediatric ALS equipment, and other emergency medical service equipment as required by state regulations and the Yale New Haven Hospital Center for EMS.
When a resident dials 911 in Woodbridge, the call will be routed to the primary service answering point, which is the town鈥檚 police department. Turcio said the dispatcher will triage the call to determine if police, fire, or EMS is needed. In a situation involving a medical emergency, the dispatcher will obtain key information such as the nature of the call, phone number, and address and will forward the call to AMR to continue the emergency medical dispatch process and dispatch resources where needed, he said.
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