Emergency Services

A vote to approve the Emergency Services Master Plan presented yesterday to the Carroll County Board of Commissioners was put off at least until next week, allowing time to clarify key issues such as adopting a countywide sprinkler ordinance.Approval for the plan, which had not been revised since 1981, was recommended to the commissioners by the county planning commission, which reviewed the plan's 51-page final draft on May 18.Commissioners Julia Walsh Gouge, Donald I. Dell and Robin Bartlett Frazier reacted favorably to the presentation by Oscar Baker, chairman of the plan's update committee, and Robert P. Cumberland Jr., president of the Carroll County Volunteer Firemen's Association, but Gouge said she wanted additional information before voting.

The county planning commission approved yesterday a revised Emergency Services Master Plan that calls for continued funding of services at current levels, improved recruitment and retention of volunteers and enhanced public education.The plan, which had not been revised since 1981, was presented to the Carroll County Planning and Zoning Commission by Oscar Baker, chairman of the Emergency Services Master Plan Update Committee, and Robert P. Cumberland Jr., president of the Carroll County Volunteer Firemen's Association.

As four-bedroom Colonials are carved out of Carroll County farmland, residents have grumbled about clogged roads and crowded classrooms. Now, they face another growing pain: a 911 system so strained it can't keep up with all the new addresses.Rescue workers say they're often confronted with confusing directions from mis-marked maps when they're hustling to an emergency."Sometimes the cross streets you're given by the dispatcher are far from one another, or they don't actually intersect," said Russell Halterman, 21, Hampstead's cardiac rescue technician.

VOLUNTEER FIRE companies in Carroll County have reluctantly recognized the economic realities of providing critical ambulance services to the community. Next month, the association of 14 volunteer units is expected to approve a countywide plan to bill insurers for these emergency services. The county commissioners will create a paid liaison to improve government coordination with independent fire companies.It is another step toward paid staffing of vital emergency services, one that an all-volunteer corps can no longer provide.

Billing insurers for ambulance calls would help Carroll's volunteer fire departments employ full-time paramedics, but might deter volunteerism and enrich the busiest companies, according to fire officials.At its annual convention this month, the Carroll County Volunteer Firemen's Association voted to end what has been a free ride for emergency patients and to support billing at all its 14 companies."What do you do to provide appropriate coverage and how do you offset the expense?" asked Bob Cumberland, an officer in the association and the Westminster company.

The county's volunteer fire companies will begin billing insurers for emergency services under guidelines established by Carroll County Volunteer Firemen's Association.Association leaders and the commissioners met yesterday to hammer out the details of the ambulance billing agreement, which delegates from the 14 area companies will review Monday. A final vote could come at the association's July 6 meeting, and countywide billing could begin before summer's end."We will go along with the billing as long as each company does its own," said Bob Alexander, association president.

Providing standard emergency services in a fast-growing county was the focus of the annual convention of the Carroll County Volunteer Firemen's Association.The convention, the association's 74th, was held Saturday at the Harney Volunteer Fire Company. About 110 firefighters and guests attended the daylong event.A series of recommendations aimed at providing uniform emergency services was adopted unanimously by 68 delegates.As the county works to update its master plan, its blueprint to guide growth, the Firemen's Association is working on its own master plan for emergency services.

Seeking to set a national standard for the definition of an "emergency," two members of Maryland's congressional delegation plan to introduce legislation that would prohibit HMOs from denying payment for emergency medical services after the fact.Such denials are a complaint across the country from emergency physicians and people insured by health maintenance organizations. And the stories are all the same: A person arrives at the emergency room, believing something may be seriously ** wrong.

Concerns about fire safety, especially about water pressure and the ability of volunteers to respond quickly to emergencies, may do what county government has been unable to do -- slow growth in South Carroll.With a population in Eldersburg that has increased by 21 percent, to 22,405, since 1990, local fire officials say the county should put the brakes on commercial and residential development, which is straining the volunteer Sykesville-Freedom District Volunteer Fire Department."We cannot guarantee a response," said Bobby Ray Chesney, Sykesville-Freedom's deputy chief, who is a career firefighter in Baltimore County.

Using the national theme for EMS Week of "We're Ready -- Are You?" local emergency medical services personnel will kick off a celebration in Carroll County on Sunday.Activities during the week aim to educate the public about emergency medical care and how to use local emergency services.Other activities will include recognizing local EMS providers for their services throughout the year and highlighting ways to prevent injuries.Many Marylanders, including some from Carroll, will be honored May 27 at the R Adams Cowley Shock Trauma Center in Baltimore for their heroic, life-saving action or for distinguished service to the EMS community.

Most Baltimore city services will be suspended Friday when the majority of city workers take their first of five mandatory furlough days. Some key services that will be closed or altered are: * All city buildings, including recreation centers, health clinics, administrative buildings and City Hall, will be closed. * All towed vehicles will be taken to the city lot at 410 Fallsway, where they can be claimed until 7 p.m. After that, vehicles will be moved to the city lot at 6700 Pulaski Highway, where they can be picked up from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday.

An emergency-room physicians group at Anne Arundel Medical Center will donate $1 million toward a new emergency department that is being built as part of a larger expansion at AAMC, the hospital has announced. The donation by Doctor's Emergency Services, a group of 25 physicians, nurse practitioners and physician assistants that provides health care to emergency-room patients at the hospital, is particularly noteworthy because it comes during a time of "nervous uncertainly about personal income" for those in the medical field, according to Lisa Hillman, executive director of the AAMC Foundation and chair for the national Association for Health Care Philanthropy.

Three long-time volunteer firefighters are the newest members of the Carroll County Volunteer Emergency Services Association's Hall of Fame. James W. Linton Jr. from Mount Airy Volunteer Fire Company, C. Fred Dickmyer from Lineboro Volunteer Fire Department, and Richard Green Sr. from Gamber & Community Fire Company were inducted into the Hall of Fame during a banquet at the third annual association convention yesterday in Gamber. In his 41st year as a member at Mount Airy, Linton has served as company treasurer since 1978, committee chairman for numerous events and projects, an emergency vehicle driver since 1970 and an event fundraiser.

On February 6, 2006, DOROTHY E. La FON; beloved wife of the late Cecil H. La Fon; loving mother of Douglas G. La Fon and his wife Pat, Steve N. La Fon, cherished "Mi Mi" of Tara Davis, Adam and Brian La Fon. Relatives and friends may call at the family owned AMBROSE FUNERAL HOME, INC., 1328 Sulphur Spring Road, Arbutus, on Thursday from 2 to 4 and 6 to 8 P.M., where a service will be held at the Funeral hour 6 P.M. Interment Services will be held on...

The Auxiliary to the Carroll County Volunteer Emergency Services Association will hold its spring executive meeting and dinner April 4 at the Gamber & Community Volunteer Fire Company hall. Dinner will be served at 6:30 p.m., followed by a business meeting. The auxiliary will hold a spring banquet at 5:30 p.m. April 10 at the Mount Airy Volunteer Fire Company activities building. Information: 410-775-7402.

Anne Arundel County officials have until June 1 to assess the effects of a decision by Fort Meade to drastically reduce its 24-hour emergency services and instead rely on paramedics from surrounding counties, now that the Army has postponed the effective date until then. Originally scheduled to take effect tomorrow, the plan was put on hold last week - a decision that left critics hopeful that the Army will find another way to cut costs. "I think it [the delay] is a good move," said James Goetz, Fort Meade EMS spokesman.

Anne Arundel County officials have until June 1 to assess the effects of a decision by Fort Meade to drastically reduce its 24-hour emergency services and instead rely on paramedics from surrounding counties, now that the Army has postponed the effective date until then. Originally scheduled to take effect tomorrow, the plan was put on hold last week - a decision that left critics hopeful that the Army will find another way to cut costs. "I think it [the delay] is a good move," said James Goetz, Fort Meade EMS spokesman.

The Carroll County commissioners said a blueprint presented to them yesterday outlining the future of emergency services is a promising foundation. "This is a comprehensive analysis and serves as a great base," Commissioner Dean L. Minnich said at a meeting with two representatives from the Carroll County Volunteer Fireman's Association. County Chief of Staff Steven D. Powell said that the firefighters' plan will be considered as a resource in updating the public safety section of the county's master plan this summer.

Although Carroll County volunteer firefighters have approved a blueprint detailing the future of emergency services, almost half of the county's 14 fire companies opposed the proposal, saying the document needs more local feedback before it's included in the county's master plan. The 46-page Emergency Services Master Plan makes several recommendations that firefighters said would streamline decisions and enhance emergency services as the county continues to grow. While the number of Carroll households has doubled in the past two decades - as have emergency calls - the number of fire companies hasn't.

Commissioners hide transfer tax agenda It is easy to say we deserve whom we elect, but it is still disappointing to put your trust in friends only to have that trust violated after they take office. The duplicity of "let those who cause the growth pay for the growth" slogan to justify the property transfer tax exposes our county commissioners as disingenuous and undeserving of the trust we, the electorate, bestowed on them. The property transfer tax is not only on newcomers to the county.