City Hopes Revived Ambulance Service Supports Expanded Fire Department

The Melrose Fire Department and City Hall plan to revive the Fire Department's ambulance service to support the hiring of eight new firefighters — a staffing increase that allows the city to even consider reviving the ambulance service in the first place.

Patrick Dello Russo, city auditor and chief financial officer, said on Thursday that the plan is for the Fire Department to run its own basic life support (BLS) ambulance service — something the department hasn't done since 1992 — no later than fiscal 2012. Then, by fiscal 2014, the Fire Department would run its own advanced life support (ALS) service.

Melrose City Hall entered into a three-year contract with Cataldo Ambulance in April 2008 to provide ambulance service to the city.

Last year, Melrose received a $433,500 SAFER (Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response) grant from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) that paid a portion of four new firefighters' salaries over five years, with a requirement that the city commit to retaining the firefighters hired through the additional funding for five years. SAFER grants are designed specifically to help local fire departments with staffing issues.

This year, the city received and accepted another SAFER grant for $464,464 that will pay the full salaries of four new firefighters for two years. While last year's grant reduced overtime costs in the Fire Department, resulting in a projected net financial gain for the city, the city only accepted this year's grant after obtaining assurances from FEMA that it would be eligible for a waiver allowing Melrose to bypass the grant's requirement that it keeps those new firefighters on the payroll for another year after the grant funding runs out.

Mayor Rob Dolan sought the waiver to ensure that the city is not left in an unsustainable budget situation due to the increased salaries the Fire Department will have to fund in three years.

Melrose Fire Chief John O'Brien said on Wednesday that he is already developing and proposing solutions to pay for the new positions after the grant runs out — namely, restoring a BSL ambulance operated by the Fire Department. O'Brien said the increased revenue from the ambulance service would fully fund all four firefighter positions.

"The ambulance will actually support eight firefighter positions — and then some," he said.

Dello Russo confirmed that a city-owned and operated ambulance service should support the salaries of eight firefighters, which he estimated would total $480,000.

"Therefore, this grant money for four new firefighters becomes almost like seed money, because they're going to be covering the cost of these four firefighters and during that time, we will be able to migrate the ambulance in-house," he said. "The expectation is that once the grant is over after two years, provided all goes well, the ambulance will be able to cover the cost of eight firefighters — at least those four (new hires) — and not have the city's general fund support it. Then, once we migrate up completely to ALS, the expectation is that it will cover all eight men and equipment costs related to the ambulance service."

After the city begins providing BLS ambulance service, Cataldo or another ambulance service under contract with the city would continue to provide ALS ambulance service until the city brings its own ALS service online, Dello Russo said.

The city last explored reviving its own ambulance service in 2006, Dello Russo said, but couldn't pursue it because it required, coincidentally, eight additional firefighters.

"Now with the introduction of the grants that give us the eight men, we're in a position to look at it in a way we weren't able to in 2006," he said, adding that firefighters are required to undergo medical and EMT training that qualifies them to operate the ambulance service.

Dello Russo said FEMA could not technically grant a waiver "in advance because the condition hasn't happened yet;" i.e., the city isn't currently facing an unsustainable budget due to the additional firefighters salaries.

What the city did receive is an assurance from FEMA that a waiver would be granted in three years if any Fire Department vacancies at that time are not the result of layoffs undertaken during the grant period — the vacancies could be due to retirement, voluntary or involuntary separation from the department, or calls to active duty in the reserves or National Guard — and if the economic hardship that has resulted in the Fire Department's reduced staffing also impacts all of Melrose's public safety departments.

"Basically, if the environment doesn't allow you to keep these guys after three for whatever reason, like a state aid cut, they talk about being able to assimilate these guys into vacant positions, such as positions vacated due to retirement," Dello Russo said. "Those new firefighters could slide into those positions without a penalty because you're trying to maintain a certain level of firefighters."

Asked whether there were any upcoming retirements within the Fire Department, O'Brien said there is "nothing on the horizon right now."

O'Brien said that Melrose Fire Captains Chris Leary and Ed Collina have been entrusted by the chief to manage the hiring process. The Fire Department sent a requisition for the four firefighters to the Civil Service Unit of the state's Human Resources Division "over a month ago," the chief said, adding that he expects a blend of candidates both from the state civil service list and possible transfers from other municipal fire departments.

"(O'Leary and Collina) are going through the process right now," O'Brien said. "They have to process the list. They have a lot of work to do. They've scheduled interviews."