Give Fire Dept. Paramedic Rights

We, the residents and employees (more than 350 residents and 200 employees) of the Ventura TowneHouse and the Venturan Convalescent Center, support the proposition that the Ventura Fire Department be allowed to provide paramedical services to our community.

There isn’t a week that goes by that we do not have to call 911 for paramedic emergency services for our residents. Our Fire Department responds within five minutes to provide emergency medical services. But it takes the ambulance company 10 to 15 minutes to arrive. Those few minutes difference may be a matter of life or death for our residents.

Also, why dispatch two separate organizations when one could perform the task efficiently and transport the resident to the local hospital at the same time? It must be costing the city a substantial amount to provide emergency services by the Fire Department, and the ambulance company gets reimbursed by Medicare, private insurance companies or the individual. The average cost that the ambulance company charges our residents for the two-mile trip to the hospital is more than $600. If the City Council allows the Fire Department to provide this service, then the city would be able to recover its cost by billing the above groups.

FRANK J. DRABICKAS

LINDA G. PICKEL

FRANK RATNER

Ventura

Drabickas is vice president / administrator of the Ventura TowneHouse. Pickel is administrator of the Venturan. Ratner is chairman of the TowneHouse’s residents organization.