Plans for a functional ambulance in talks in Union Township

 

ST. JOSEPH COUNTY, Ind. -- Whether or not to bring an ambulance service back to Union Township was up for discussion in Tuesday's board meeting.

Board members heard public comments from residents who were shocked to see a sticker price of $2 million of their taxpayer dollars to bring back a functional ambulance.

"If you pass this, it will more than quadruple the taxes in this town and township," said one resident in Tuesday's meeting.

"I can't afford the taxes to keep going higher and higher," said another taxpayer.

"I don't want to see my taxes go up," another concerned citizen said.

Union Township residents made it clear they do not want to see their property taxes rise. But they will rise if they want to see a working ambulance out of the Lakeville Fire Department. For example, for a $100,000 home, the homeowner would pay roughly $200 extra a year for that ambulance.

"To put that back in service we would literally have to have like half a million dollars," says the Union Township Trustee Kelly Carrico. "That would be supplying it with all the equipment, the medical supplies that the state would require for it to be back on road."

The ambulance that Union Township owns is non-functioning. It's been sitting in storage because it's empty and has none of the necessary equipment in it.

It's the center of an ongoing lawsuit between the township and Union-North Ambulance Service who previously serviced the township, and when that contract wasn't renewed, U.N.A.S. stripped the ambulance and gave it back.

"So, the only thing we have lost in the past year is just the wheels, the ambulance, the box. But what we've gained in that last year is that we have 24/7 coverage, where we have two men staffed at all times in the station," Carrico explains.

Right now, the only thing Union Township EMT's can't do is transport patients to the hospital.

"When we get a call, they will go out with one of the engines or the squads, and if it's a medical they can start assessing that patient, they will be in contact with South Bend medics telling them what level of care they are able to perform at that time," Carrico explains. "Then when South Bend medics appear, or arrive on the scene, they can then load the patient and do the transport."

The township's partnership with South Bend EMS would continue either way since it's paid for by the local income tax.

As it stands now, Carrico says the coverage residents currently have is the best they've had in years.

"When we were contracting for ambulance service, it wasn't 24/7 coverage. It was coverage that was basically volunteer," says Carrico. "In the evenings and the weekends, there was no guarantee."

The resolution for the 2-million-dollar bond did get tabled Tuesday, so it will be back up for discussion at the April 15th meeting.