The ambulance controversy

To the editor:
    I have worked as a part-time emergency room physician and a full-time family physician in Aroostook County since 1980. I have worked with multiple ambulance crews in many different situations, and have high praise and respect for all the different crews that I have worked with.     The ambulance controversy before the Presque Isle City Council is not about who can do what better at the “scene”, but about politics and misperception. It is not about the Fire Department vs. Crown Ambulance or the city vs. Aroostook Medical Center, but is really about life and death.
    We have an incredible ambulance service in The County, Crown, one of the only in the state to be recognized at the Platinum level by Healthy Maine Partnerships. This is remarkable for a rural area. Crown has 55 staff members, 28 who are paramedics and 10 staff members who are trained in critical care medicine. Why throw this away in Presque Isle, at the outside chance of possibly making a little money? The cost of equipment, ambulances, depreciation, salaries and education does not leave much room for my city of Presque Isle to really make a profit over the next few years. Crown Ambulance Service will be weakened, especially in Presque Isle, and we will be at risk for delayed service.
    I have an older Presque Isle patient who recently dropped dead at home. Crown arrived and initiated resuscitation within a few minutes. He was successfully resuscitated, hospitalized, was discharged after two weeks and is now home with his wife doing well.
    A one- or two-minute delay can be the difference between life and death, a busy fire day, a few emergent ambulance calls, a transport to Eastern Maine Medical Center or elsewhere and with a smaller local ambulance service in Presque Isle, your family member could end up waiting an extra one or two minutes and possibly lose the chance to live.
    We residents of Presque Isle share in a remarkable ambulance service. I think the risk of losing the depth of what we have in this service of politics, and the chance to make at best a little money, is too great for my patients and family. Join me in supporting Crown Ambulance and asking the City Council to renew its contract.