Smithfield Fire Chief to Lobby for More Staff

In the first five months of 2013, nearly 100 calls have gone out from the Smithfield Fire Department for help from surrounding communities — resulting in longer wait times for patients, Fire Chief Robert Seltzer explained.

In one case, a local resident suffering an allergic reaction had to wait 15 minutes for a rescue to arrive from Glocester because local crews were already at other scenes.

"My concern, as a fire chief, is that those are unrealistic expectations, to have to wait 15 minutes for a transporting vehicle — that, to me, is unacceptable," Seltzer said during a recent interview at fire headquarters. "It's a serious issue for the well-being of the people of Smithfield."

As a result, Seltzer said he plans to make a second request for additional staffers — this time two, down from the original request for four — to the town council at a budget hearing scheduled for Tuesday night.

"We've already gone through it once and it hasn't gone anywhere — we had it in the budget, and now we've taken it out of the budget, but the numbers are getting pretty high," explained Seltzer, who added that the two new personnel would be assigned to the new rescue that's due to go into service in July.

The town is also potentially losing revenue, since each rescue run generates between $500 and $1,000 in emergency medical services (EMS) billing to patients' medical insurance companies — money that is going to other towns when they respond to Smithfield residents.

"There's definitely a financial loss," noted Seltzer.

A possible solution, Seltzer explained, is to fund the two new positions out of the department's EMS billing account, which last year collected about $1,047,000 — with about $650,000 of that going back to the town's budget.

Uner Seltzer's plan, the amount needed for two new staffers — about $125,000 — would be moved from the town's portion of the EMS billing account to the fire department.

"We're not looking to raise taxes," Seltzer explained, adding that "probably 50 percent of that manpower [cost] would be recouped by the calls they answer" and the billing that results.

Town Manager Dennis Finlay, who said he supports Seltzer's proposal, agreed with Seltzer's estimate.

"It's possible, yes," Finlay replied to a question about the potential for 50 percent of the personnel cost to be recovered through additional billing. "It will give us more rescue runs, and more EMS billing."

The budget hearing is scheduled for May 14 at 7 pm at Smithfield High School.

What do you think?

Should the town council approve the transfer of funds so the fire department can hire two new staffers?

Have your say in the comments section below.