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ENFIELD TOWN COUNCIL
MINUTES OF A SPECIAL MEETING
OCTOBER 17, 2005
A Special Meeting of the Enfield Town Council was called to order by Acting-Chairman Fiore in the Enfield Room of the Enfield Town Hall, 820 Enfield Street, Enfield, Connecticut on Monday, October 17, 2005. The meeting was called to order at 6:01 p.m.
ROLL-CALL – Present were Councilmen Dodd, Edgar, Egan, Fiore, Kaupin, Mangini and Reveruzzi. Councilman Tallarita arrived at 6:04 p.m., Councilman Peruta at 6:06 p.m. and Councilman Crowley at 6:38 p.m. Councilman Tait was absent. Also present were Town Manager, Scott Shanley; Assistant Town Manager, Daniel Vindigni; Town Attorney, Christopher Bromson; Director of Economic Development, Raymond Warren; Assistant Director of Public Works Colleen Brand; Deputy Director of Public Works, Geoffrey McAlmond; Director of Human Resources, William Mahoney; Director of EMS, Arthur Groux; Town Clerk, Suzanne Olechnicki.
MOTION #8053 by Councilman Mangini, seconded by Councilman Kaupin to go into Executive Session to discuss Personnel Matters, Real Estate Negotiations and Pending Litigation.
Upon a SHOW-OF-HANDS vote being taken, Acting-Chairman Fiore declared MOTION #8053 adopted 7-0-0, and the meeting stood recessed at 6:02 p.m.
EXECUTIVE SESSION
The Executive session of the Enfield Town Council was called to order by Acting-Chairman Fiore at 6:03 p.m.
ROLL-CALL – Present were Councilmen Dodd, Edgar, Egan, Fiore, Kaupin, Mangini and Reveruzzi. Councilman Tallarita arrived at 6:04 p.m., Councilman Peruta at 6:06 p.m. and Councilman Crowley at 6:38 p.m. Councilman Tait was absent. Also present were Town Manager, Scott Shanley; Assistant Town Manager, Daniel Vindigni; Town Attorney, Christopher Bromson; Director of Economic Development, Raymond Warren; Assistant Director of Public Works Colleen Brand; Director of Human Resources, William Mahoney; Town Clerk, Suzanne Olechnicki.
Personnel Matters, Real Estate Negotiations and Pending Litigation were discussed with no action or votes being taken.
Chairman Tallarita adjourned the Executive Session at 6:37 p.m. He reconvened the Special Meeting at 6:39 p.m. and stated that during Executive Session Personnel Matters, Real Estate Negotiations and Pending Litigation were discussed with no action or votes being taken.
DISCUSSION RE: EMS UPDATE
Present for this discussion was EMS Director, Arthur Groux.
Mr. Groux stated they started holding regular meetings with the fire chiefs and police department officials every 10 to 14 days to be sure they’re addressing everything and looking at the supplemental first response role. He added they did start regular monthly
meetings with AMR to learn what their intentions are staffing-wise and how they will work the system.
He stated they will continue training on new equipment for EMS personnel, and they’re updating their policy manual. As concerns current staffing, they have three full-time paramedics working on the road, and they tested one last week, along with two new applicants undergoing testing this week. He noted between those three, they are looking to hire one more full-time person. He explained they currently have nine full-time EMT’s on the road, and they did test for two part-timers last week and will be making a decision on those individuals this week. He added they have one full-time applicant going through a background check, and if this individual makes it through the background check, that will leave them with one full-time EMT opening.
Mr. Groux stated they sent mailings out to every EMT in the immediate Western Massachusetts area. He noted they were able to get a mailing list from the State of Massachusetts.
As concerns police department involvement, he stated he checked out the historical use of police officers and learned that based on two units, 24 hours per day, they had 336 potential hours per week of police department involvement. He pointed out during their first week of operation, which was September 18th, they had 168 hours of potential police involvement, therefore, they did cut that use back dramatically. He noted during this week they are at 84 hours of potential police involvement.
Mr. Groux stated from September 19 to October 10 they answered 169 calls for service, and there was one call during that period where they did not have a unit available to respond, and it turned out to be a communications error on their part, however, that was corrected. He noted 58 patients were transported during that period, and of all the patients that received ALS care, either transported by AMR or the Town, 13.9 of those received ALS care from the Town. He noted of the patients that required ALS care, 3.8% received it from another provider, whether it was East Windsor, Suffield, or Windsor Locks. He pointed out that figure was 19% in the July/August period.
He stated they still have a few issues they are working on. He noted they are still making a few more changes to the dispatch computer system so that they can track their units.
He explained they made a big change October 1st in order to track response times and calls by unit.
Councilman Peruta questioned how they will improve the quality of each call. Mr. Groux
stated they are looking at regular training periods. He noted they have a meeting with Johnson Memorial Hospital the end of this week to set up regular quality assurance sessions with their employees to review certain calls, and those reviews will happen every three to four weeks.
Councilman Crowley stated his belief the Town’s EMS system is doing a great job. He questioned how they reclaim material, i.e., back boards. Mr. Groux stated it’s an unwritten rule that they borrow equipment such as back boards between services if it’s necessary.
Councilman Kaupin questioned the reaction of AMR. Mr. Groux stated AMR increased staff in Enfield and added extra units in July, and that up-staffing has now started to dwindle. He noted they have a very fluid staffing level. He stated he met with the AMR manager and will be meeting with him again this week to better understand what their staffing level will be because Enfield cannot be staffed on a fluid level.
Councilman Edgar questioned whether Mr. Groux is satisfied with the response time for EMS. Mr. Groux stated their worst response time was 12.5 minutes and their best response time was 30 seconds. He noted their average response time is four minutes.
Mr. Shanley stated his belief they’ve found an alternative site for the voting machines, therefore, that Route 5 location should improve response times.
Chairman Tallarita expressed his appreciation for the job done by Mr. Groux and his staff.
ADJOURNMENT
MOTION #8054 by Councilman Mangini, seconded by Councilman Kaupin to adjourn.
Upon a SHOW-OF-HANDS vote being taken, the Chair declared MOTION #8054 adopted 8-0-0, and the meeting stood adjourned at 7:00 p.m. |