Town of Princeton, Mass., Selectboard Meeting Minutes
– December 13, 2018 – 5:30 PM – Town Hall Annex
Present: Chair Richard Bisk, Karen Cruise, Edith Morgan, TA Nina Nazarian, Deputy Fire Chief Tim Kelly and Police Chief Michele Powers.
5:34 PM Richy opened the meeting.
Nina provided some background on the reasons for the special meeting being held by the Selectboard, namely:
- In the FY’19 budget season, the Fire Chief requested additional funding to provide better medical response time to Princeton.
- Simultaneously, residents questioned why a new fire station was needed over additional resources for better response time.
- Subsequent to the above, the Selectboard established a goal for FY’19 as follows:
Medical Response
The Selectboard & Town Administrator, in collaboration with the Fire Chief and Police Chief, will meet
and prepare a plan including budget and timeline (as needed) for the purpose of establishing a more rapid response for medical calls within the town.
The group discussed the advantages and restrictions of the police personnel becoming EMT’s. Specifically, given that police officers are typically first on the scene, EMT trained officers would have the ability to begin care and/or have the training to identify timely information to dispatch to be relayed to the Fire Department for when an ambulance is able to arrive. As a matter of policy, the Police Chief stated that EMT trained officers would not leave town on an ambulance without a 2nd officer in town. Therefore, the Fire Department would still need two EMT’s to transport a patient to the hospital.
The police chief was asked why police officers show up to all calls. Police Chief Powers said that all officers are first responders, so they have some level of training to assist in the beginning of a medical emergency. All police officers are trained to use defibulators.
Discussion began regarding response time by the Fire Department, based on their current resources. Deputy Chief Kelly noted that during a medical emergency the ambulance typically leaves the station in under 3 minutes when the station is staffed. The current funding level provides staffing for the fire station Monday through Friday from 7 AM to 5 PM.
The Deputy Fire Chief was asked how fire department personnel balance the various fire inspections (smoke alarm, etc.) which they are assigned during the daytime, when they are covering their shift. Deputy Chief Kelly responded that there is regular communication and coordination with Lieutenant Firefighter/EMT Phil Connors, who serves as the Building Maintenance Supervisor and if he is in Town, Fire Department employees use the black SUV in the Fire Department (otherwise known as the “Fire Chief’s vehicle”). This allows the inspectors to perform the inspections, and if there is a call Lieutenant Connors can respond to the emergency with the ambulance, which keeps the mileage on the ambulance low.
A question was raised about inclement weather relating to snow and how snow effects response time. Deputy Kelly explained that the Fire Chief maintains a policy to staff the stations for storms with predictions of six inches or greater. Each station is staffed with 2 employees and one additional person performs snow plowing to keep the truck bays free of snow. This is of great importance, given clearance issues with the ambulance. A small amount of snow in front of the truck bay could cause for the ambulance not being able to clear the top of the open garage door.
There was discussion around the evening and night time responses and while there is a staff person either at the station or at their home scheduled to respond for emergencies, the most difficult range of hours to have coverage continues to be the weekend dayshift. When asked what would help response time, including staff, equipment, other resources, etc. Deputy Chief Kelly responded that the best thing is to have someone physically in the station with the ambulance. Deputy Kelly suggested funding for a staff person to cover the weekend daytime shift.
Board members asked if each employee had a portable radio. Deputy Kelly responded that only officers (fire chief, deputy, lieutenants, paramedics, etc.) carry portable radio’s due to the cost. Portable radios are approximately $3,500 for firefighters, given the explosion proofing specification required.
A member asked why so many personnel show up when a 911 call is placed. Deputy Kelly explained that it is due to Princeton’s terrain, size of homes, distance to the scene of the incident, the on-call status of their employees, etc. For example, regarding the size of a home, if the medical emergency is on the 3rd floor of a residence, and the patient must be carried down the stairs on a stretcher, it simply is better to have more employees to reduce the chance of injury to a fire department employee.
A member of the board asked if there was any consideration to train High School students to become EMT’s as is done in Harvard. Deputy Kelly explained his involvement with a similar type of program in Bolton, where students would become EMT’s and leave school for a medical emergency, however Princeton’s challenge is that the High School is not in town.
There was discussion addressing the challenges with medical response time by using a multi-phased approach, which may include additional funding, but also to elevate awareness in town and possibly train more residents to hold First Aid/CPR certifications’s. As suggestion was made that maybe the Fire Department hold First Aid/CPR classes like the Police Department holds RAD classes. Deputy Kelly indicated that the funding might be manageable and committed to speaking with the Fire Chief to see if the Department could begin offering training to confirmed residents of Princeton and/or employees of the town immediately.
In conclusion, Deputy Kelly’s 5-10 year recommended goal is that the town staff an EMT in the station 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, however for the time being, he would recommend staffing the weekend as phase I.
Recognizing that numbers were provided in the past, the Selectboard asked the Deputy Fire Chief to work with the Fire Chief and re-submit the cost for staffing the station on the weekends.
Meeting Adjourned 6:50 PM
Respectfully submitted, Nina Nazarian, Town Administrator
S.B. Referenced Documents: None
Marie Auger
Administrative Assistant
Planning Department
978-464-2100
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