UPDATE: The Town of Orange Park voted Thursday 5 to 0 to ask Clay County Commissioners for a hearing to see if the County will grant them a certificate that would allow Orange Park to purchase their own rescue truck or ambulance and apply for reimbursements for ambulance runs. If granted, Orange Park could collect reimbursements for ambulance runs, something they currently can't collect as the towns only ambulance is owned by the county.
An official date for that hearing and if the county will grant a hearing in the first place has not been determined.
ORIGINAL STORY: ORANGE PARK, Fla. - Clay County commissioners voted unanimously Tuesday night to relocate the only ambulance at fire station 19 to another station about three miles away.
"It was a huge surprise," Town Manager Sarah Campbell told First Coast News on Wednesday.
The vote immediately moved the ambulance to station 18 on Blanding Boulevard, which already has an ambulance.
Orange Park town councilman Alan Watt calls it an ambush.
In a phone call, Watt added that the vote was not on the agenda, that it wasn't advertised to the public, and therefore there was no opportunity for taxpayers - particularly those among the approximately 8,600 served by station 19 - to weigh in.
Campbell explained that the town had actually hoped to take over all EMS service, and even applied for a Certificate of Public Convenience and Necessity, which is required for such cases.
"That happened, however the subsequent motion was to take it away from us in the meantime," she said.
Campbell estimated that it's the first time in about 45 years that station 19, located on Smith Street adjacent to town offices, will be without an ambulance. She explained that the town and county had been sharing the cost - the town footing the expense of EMT manpower at about $430,000 annually, while the county provided the ambulance and medical equipment. The problem, she said, is that despite splitting the tab, only the county received revenue from ambulance calls.
She said the impact of losing the ambulance was instantly noticed.
"We saw a change immediately overnight, where our crews can be on the scene in four minutes to provide advanced life support," Campbell said. "But the transport unit to take you to the hospital didn’t arrive for another ten to thirteen minutes."
Not only a worry for first responders, but in a community that includes several assisted care facilities, a deep concern for everyone.
"If an ambulance has to come from further away it’s definitely going to take more time," said former Orange Park resident Katie Self. "And it can probably be the difference between life and death."
"If it’s a cardiac alert, minutes matter," Campbell added.
In an emailed statement, County fire chief Loren Mock said, in part, "This response ensures not only the most effective available response for each call for service, but also provides the continual protection of our communities through the dynamic repositioning of other unit(s)."
Chief Mock added that the decision had been partially motivated by fiscal concerns expressed by the town: "an asserted financial burden that the cost of staffing the County Rescue Unit places on [the town's] budget."
According to the Town of Orange Park officials, it took Clay County Fire and Rescue fourteen minutes and 55 seconds to respond to a crash on Wells Road Tuesday evening.
“It’s a little bit of a misnomer,” Clay County Fire and Rescue Chief Loren Mock said Thursday. The town still had possession of the unit and we were getting ready to assume operational responsibility of it. The town decided not to respond the rescue unit to that call and we didn’t take over service to that part of town until much later in the evening.”
Mock says the Town of Orange Park’s paramedics were on scene within the required eight minutes. “And transport units can come in behind them and take them to the hospital.”
First Coast News asked Mock if this issue was about money.
“I think the town is interested in control of the rescue unit and the 2nd thing is about revenue stream to offset their cost.”
Chief Mock's entire statement reads as follows:
"The provision of Advanced Life Support (ALS) Emergency Medical response and transport services in Clay County is a county-wide service delegated by the Board of County Commissioners (BCC) to Clay County Fire/Rescue. In support of this mission the County operates 10 full time and 1 part-time ALS Transport Rescue Units along with 13 ALS Paramedic Engine/Ladder Companies. One of the County Rescue Units and one ALS Paramedic Engine Company have been staffed on behalf of the County by the Orange Park Fire Department (OPFD) who has been a valuable partner in that process.
Since 2014, in cooperation with the leadership of the OPFD, the County adopted a response philosophy that strives to ensure that the closest appropriate unit(s) for each emergency is immediately dispatched, regardless of area or jurisdiction. This response ensures not only the most effective available response for each call for service, but also provides the continual protection of our communities through the dynamic repositioning of other unit(s) to lend support should one or more calls occur at the same time.
In recent months, the Town of Orange Park’s leadership has expressed concerns regarding the frequency and utilization of the OPFD staffed County Rescue Unit and OPFD fire assets outside the Town’s limits, as well as an asserted financial burden that the cost of staffing the County Rescue Unit places on their budget. It culminated with a request from the Town for the issuance of a Certificate of Public Convenience and Necessity (COPCN) for the grant of a separate Town operated rescue service.
The BCC, in initially responding to the Town’s request, took two actions at their March 27th meeting. First, they directed staff to prepare and present a process in order to appropriately hear, consider and render a response to the COPCN request. Secondly, in order to provide immediate budgetary relief to the Town, as well as free their fire department employees of the obligation to staff the County’s Rescue Unit so that the staff is fully available to better meet the Town’s first response EMS and fire service needs, the BCC directed the County Manager and County Fire Chief to assume the staffing responsibility of the Rescue Unit with County Fire/Rescue staff, until the matter of the COPCN request is resolved.
In taking this action, the BCC affirmed that the County’s EMS service must be managed as a County-wide operation whose ultimate responsibility is to protect the safety and well-being of all Clay County residents – including Orange Park. Additionally, this action emphasizes the BCC’s belief the service model that presently exists continues to be the most collaborative, efficient and cost-effective means to provide these vital services to our citizens."