Confusion, Questions Remain About ‘Medic Response’ Proposal

Tensions were high and questions remain after Meriden’s finance and public safety committees met Tuesday in an effort to begin taking a hard look at medical responses from Engine Co. 3, leaving the fate of the station and how it should be utilized up in the air.

The Tuesday even meeting, initiated when Councilman Brian Daniels submitted a resolution to enter into discovery of medical calls and the best way to effectively and efficiently address emergency response needs in the community, drew a crowd that was standing room only as multiple firefighters and city residents vouched for the need to keep the fire department fully functional with Engine Co. 3 remaining on Broad Street.

But despite the confusion, Finance Committee Chairman Trevor Thorpe and Daniels each said the goal is not to look at eliminating Engine Co. 3, but rather to take a hard look at the facts and operating procedures to determine if the best operational system is in place.

“This was not something brought up because of the budget; it’s a discussion that has come back up because the question was asked years ago and it was never addressed,” Daniels said. “We are not on a fast-track to make any changes, but we will not tolerate any more inaction.”

“The purpose is to get information so we can take appropriate action. It is our responsibility to determine who gets what, what the Board of Education gets, what the general government gets. We have to live up to this responsibility,” he said.

In the end, no action was taken at Tuesday’s meeting – and may not be taken for some time, Thorpe said – but the committees did vote in joint action to form an ad hoc emergency committee comprised of a 16-member panel to collect and provide answers to various questions the community, the department and the council may have.

The committee will be made up of the fire chief and deputy fire chief, the South Meriden volunteer fire chief and deputy chief, the Meriden police chief and deputy chief, two members of Hunter’s Ambulance, the city’s emergency communications director, a representative of MidState, a representative of the city’s GIS department, the city manager, two members of the public chosen and large and two council members chosen by the majority and minority leaders.

Despite the charge coming from the finance and public safety committees, however, members of the public and the Meriden Fire Department remain skeptical that the effort is not an undertaking to shut down full operations at the Broad Street station.

Fire Lt. Brendan Noonan said recent discussions at the council level have questioned fire department spending and a motion to close the engine company, one presented and supported only by Walter Shamock Jr., has left many concerned.

“The council came forward with resolutions, they have all indicated they believe the budget has grown too big and is continuing to grow. That’s not the case,” Noonan said. “We have actually reduced the budget in recent years and measures were taken, voluntarily by firefighters, to ease burden of city budget. We are taxpayers too. The fact is, the budget is close to bare bones.”

Even in looking at just the medical response portion, eight year firefighter and lifelong Meriden resident Kevin Muravnick said there is a need to keep an engine, fully stocked with response equipment, to provide an appropriate response.

“When you look at the amount of people and the amount of equipment used on scene day in and day out, we need that engine,” Muravnick said. “We don’t know going into these calls what we are going to need and we can’t just look what the reported condition is.”

Muravnick noted that at many calls, it takes the entire engine personnel, Hunter’s Ambulance staff and sometimes even additional personnel to provide the assistance, manpower and equipment necessary to provide an appropriate response.

Despite the concerns, Councilwoman Catherine Battista reiterated that there is no decision being made now but will come down the road once all information has been gathered.

“We may do nothing or we may change everything. I think together we can figure this out,” she said. “We all know, sitting in this room, there are things that need to be fixed. If the department thinks there is nothing that needs fixing, then God love you because I don’t know anyone like that.”

“We all need to get on the same page; realize we do care about how quickly the city is able to respond and we do all care about public safety.”

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