Current ambulance model in SWH, Tremont 'not sustainable' - select board told
Other news: Map shows concentration of Bar Harbor business in direct line of cruise ship passenger foot traffic
SOUTHWEST HARBOR, Sept. 25, 2024 - There is no way around the inconvenient fact that the combination of the housing crisis and the subsequent decline in volunteerism on the island has put basic public safety services on a precarious footing.
Now comes the Southwest Harbor-Tremont ambulance service with the latest dose of reality: The town only has one volunteer left to drive ambulances.
Former first select chair Kristin Hutchins, a volunteer ambulance driver, told the current board last night the service is using licensed EMTs from out of town to fill the void left by the severe decline of local volunteers as drivers. And that’s expensive.
“We're going to be coming to you folks to be asking for more money in the future,” Hutchins said Tuesday night.
Because of its rural nature, Maine is one of the few states which allows persons without a medical license to drive ambulances, Hutchins said in an interview.
Typically, they were residents with proximity to the ambulance next to the police department who were paid $5 an hour to be on call.
Retirements and the general decline in volunteerism have obliterated that cohort.
Luckily, the staffing of EMTs and paramedics have not seen the same trend, largely because the service has had to adjust to the demands of scheduling and wages, Hutchins said.
Fighter fighters who are licensed EMTs will come from as far away as Bangor or Bucksport for hourly wages of $26 an hour or higher, provided they are guaranteed a minimum 24-hour shift. Paramedics can draw $30 an hour or more.
The ambulance services is still on call 24/7 but the driver is mostly a professional instead of a volunteer.
In June 2022, the Northeast Harbor Ambulance Service, which started in 1938, was unable to continue operations because of the shortage of volunteers.
The Town of Mount Desert Fire Department assumed responsibility for the service and upgraded it to a 24/7 professionally staffed department.
The town approved the renovation of the firehouse in Somesville to house crew members at a cost of $950,000, at a special town meeting in May 2022. It then added to its existing building in Northeast Harbor.
“I think the biggest challenge,” Fire Chief Mike Bender told the Islander, “was trying to staff up a full department within months.
“We had six to 12 months to start staffing up. We went from a very small, four-man department up to a 16- to 17-person department. And that was the biggest challenge, trying to recruit staff, get everybody onboarded - interviews, hiring, working through all that, and then figuring out shifts and schedules. I don't think there was any big things that came up that we couldn't overcome. But, like I said, starting a whole new department, almost from the ground up - it had its moments.”
But the housing crisis continued to dog the department which has had an opening for a paramedic for a year because of the sticker shock of housing, Bender said.
The Quietside already faced a severe shortage of police officers, with only three patrolling both Southwest Harbor and Tremont, after the latter decided to sever ties with the Hancock County Sheriff’s Department which struggled to provide more than 30 hours of coverage a week.
One patrolman is attending an 18-week training at the state police academy and is due back in December. Another officer is scheduled to start the academy in January.
The budget calls for a full staff of six officers.
The ambulance service is kept afloat from donations and grants, Hutchins said, crediting president Andy Cline’s wherewithal at sniffing out grant opportunities.
The current annual budget is $522,000, Hutchins said. For the current fiscal year, SWH has appropriated $105,000 for the Ambulance Service and Tremont $75,000.
The $224,845 in salaries and benefits in its 2023 non-profit financial statement is certainly going to increase.
“The ambulance service struggles to operate in the black, and we're just letting you folks know that in the future operations, we're going to have to work toward some more sustainable model, and it's going to cost,” Hutchins told the select board.
“While we think this model is expensive, we think it will provide better service and help us continue 24/7 coverage.”
Cline stated in an email, “By way of emphasis, we definitely did want the Select Boards to know that our new model with two providers on duty, rather than one provider and a non-EMT driver, will be more expensive, but we also want to stress that it will promote better patient care with two providers on scene.
“An added bonus is that the new model will provide an opportunity for our younger licensed but unseasoned EMT’s to work alongside and learn from our veteran providers, most of whom are licensed at the Paramedic level and have many years of experience.”
An island-wide ambulance service would make the most sense from a public safety point of view and economically, but Hutchins is not optimistic that will happened anytime soon.
Is a picture is worth 1,000 passengers?
BAR HARBOR - The only Town Council public hearing on its proposal to repeal the 1,000 daily passenger disembarkation cap in favor of at least 3,200 was well attended on Aug. 27, by restaurant and trinket shop owners who dominated the session.
The following map shows that most of those businesses clearly are in the path of cruise ship passengers as they disembark on the dock on West Street.
The businesses whose owners or representatives spoke in favor of the council proposal included:
- The Maine Store, 20 Mt Desert St Shop #1, Bar Harbor, ME 04609
- Geddy's, 19 Main St, Bar Harbor, ME 04609
- A Little Mad Shop, 17 Rodick St, Bar Harbor, ME 04609
- Little Village Gifts, 9QQW+Q3 Bar Harbor, Maine
- CherrySTONES, 185 Main St #1746, Bar Harbor, ME 04609
- Jalapeno's, 191 Main St, Bar Harbor, ME 04609
- Fish House Grill, 1 West St, Bar Harbor, ME 04609
- Bar Harbor Beer Works, 119 Main St, Bar Harbor, ME 04609
- Side Street Cafe, 49 Rodick St, Bar Harbor, ME 04609
- Sagegrass Gallery, 185 Main St Suite 1, Bar Harbor, ME 04609
Three businesses suing the town to overturn the 1,000 daily cap spoke.
The owner of the dock and abutting restaurants did not speak.
I wonder if these cruise ship addicted businesses shop for their everyday needs primarily in Bar Harbor…food, clothes, toys, pet, and household and yard supplies. I wonder if their primary home is in Bar Harbor, and if they drive an ancient Toyota Corolla type of car. Most of our everyday residents are struggling to find an affordable room or apartment to rent, and make ends meet. They do not have the luxury of complaining about needing more and more cruise ship passengers to increase their bottom line. These cruise ship addicted businesses say they provide jobs. But are they seasonal? Parttime? Do they provide benefits such as health insurance, paid sick time, etc.? I am sure there is a handful of staff that are managers such as Eben Salvatore who do have a full time job with benefits. But the majority do not. These seasonal jobs may be these workers only option , or choice, but it does not build the year round community of Bar Harbor. Many of the year round residents have long argued that only promoting tourism, such as mega cruise ship industry is the slow death of the year round town. Many of the year round residents of Bar Harbor have advocated for years to sustain tourism, but work as strongly to promote year round businesses as the Town Council and Chamber have to push cruise ships.
The Town and Chamber say a successful year round business is not possible. Well, look at Rooster Bros. in Ellsworth, JAX, MDI Bio Lab, Hannaford, Cadillac Mountain Sports, and Sherman’s. I am sure these businesses have a huge bump in sales during the summer season, but that helps tide them over the winter months. And the pandemic ban on cruise ships clearly demonstrated most businesses did well without the mega cruise ship presence. The issue is much more complex than just saying the more mega cruise ships is the best thing for Bar Harbor. No, it is not. It is good for feathering the nests of a few at the long term risk of slowly hollowing out the year round community of our neighbors and friends.