MARS HILL, Maine — It will be another week before the semi-municipal Central Aroostook Ambulance Service will begin service because of supply issues, said the ambulance service chairman.
The agency is scheduled to begin emergency service to Mars Hill, Blaine, Bridgewater and E Plantation on Monday, May 4, two weeks after its scheduled April 20 start time. The Presque Isle Fire Department will provide emergency services for the area in the interim.
The delay is primarily because of setbacks in acquiring medical equipment, said Central Aroostook Ambulance Service Board Chairman Troy Bradstreet — the fire chief of Bridgewater and an early member of the group of civic leaders who brought the ambulance project off the round late last year.
While Bradstreet said the start date change is not entirely due to the repercussions of the COVID-19 pandemic, the outbreak of the virus had made it difficult to acquire medical supplies for the venture, especially personal protective equipment, more commonly known as PPE.
There have been shortages of PPE equipment nationwide amid widespread demand from hospitals attempting to contain the coronavirus outbreak. Bradstreet said it was a difficult time to attain the material — a required item for emergency services in Maine long before the current pandemic.
The service had been in contact with Maine Sen. Susan Collins’ office on the issue and Bradstreet said the board was exploring borrowing PPE from other local governmental departments.
The service is also waiting to receive a stretcher and cardiac monitor. While the stretcher is scheduled to arrive on April 29, Bradstreet was unsure when it would acquire a cardiac monitor.
Beginning an ambulance service is not a simple undertaking, and Bradstreet emphasized that there will be “growing pains,” as the service works to get up and running in under a year.
“There’s been a lot of folks working behind the scenes to make sure this all comes together,” Bradstreet said. “We’re in hopes that everything turns out very well.”
The service is also still looking to fill paramedic and ambulance positions.
Central Aroostook Ambulance has been helped by members of the community and anonymous donors who have given furniture and medical supplies to it, including an intraosseous infusion drill — essential equipment used for when medical workers cannot insert a traditional intravenous line into a patient’s vein.
Maine Gov. Janet Mills signed LD 2050 — which approved the creation of a semi-municipal ambulance service in central Aroostook County — on Feb. 29. Because it was an emergency bill, the legislation went into law immediately after it was signed rather than after the standard 90-day waiting period.
The municipalities chose to create the service after Northern Light Medical Transport unexpectedly announced it was pulling out of its contract to cover several communities in The County on Aug. 21, citing lack of call volume.
Local leaders initially announced the proposal for the new ambulance service at a public event on Dec. 18.
The Presque Isle Fire Department did not respond to a request for comment.
