Page 9 - Matthew Timerman News Today : Breaking News, Live Updates & Top Stories | Vimarsana

WATERTOWN — The city has committed to working on plans to reduce the number of emergency medical calls the fire department responds to without relying on changing how Jefferson County 911 dispatchers handle emergency calls. The City Council on Tuesday backed off on pressuring the county to change protocol for 911 calls, which determines which medical call the fire department is dispatched to. Before approving an amendment to a resolution Tuesday night, Mayor Jeffrey M. Smith and council members Sarah V. Compo and Jesse C.P. Roshia were considering to set a Jan. 1 deadline to stop all EMS...

WATERTOWN — City Council members made it clear on Monday night: They want Jefferson County dispatchers to handle emergency medical calls for the city’s fire department. Council members informally agreed on Monday that they will vote on a resolution next week that would make a major change that would mean county dispatch would determine which EMS calls the fire department would go on. County dispatchers now notify the fire department after a call comes in to them and they automatically send out a fire engine to the scene. They also use a complicated system, called Emergency Managemen...

WATERTOWN — Mayor Jeffrey M. Smith doesn’t see any reason for the city’s fire department to respond to an EMS call when a person falls or suffers from a diabetic

WATERTOWN — In a compromise offered by the mayor, the Fire Department’s rescue truck will be taken off the road next Monday, but firefighters will still be able to respond to EMS calls until the city discusses the issue again in January. Mayor Jeffrey M. Smith said Monday night the compromise will give the city a chance to meet with Guilfoyle Ambulance Services, Jefferson County EMS and the firefighters’ union. But he put it on the firefighters’ union to save the medical calls, saying “compromise is a two-way street.” He planned to offer a resolution to decommiss...

WATERTOWN — The city Fire Department’s rescue truck has been dispatched to more than 2,600 EMS calls so far this year. But the City Council on Monday might decide to take the rescue truck off the road permanently and put a stop to responses to all medical calls by firefighters. Mayor Jeffrey M. Smith is introducing a resolution at Monday night’s council meeting to end the rescue truck calls. For years, he has said that there’s no need for the rescue truck to go out on EMS calls because Guilfoyle Ambulance Services already responds to them and it duplicates services.