The senior member of the Normal Town Council says there's something missing in debate over closing the College Avenue fire station when a new east side station opens in a couple months.
Firefighters have said increases in call volume in central Normal will create a gap in service when the closure happens. But Mayor Pro Tempore Kevin McCarthy said that ignores the idea that responses come from more than just ambulance and fire truck units.
"The system is designed for multiple success points, not just one success path," said McCarthy.
He said there are several ways for the system to meet the standard of a 4–6-minute response 90% of the time.
For instance, McCarthy said mutual aid responses from Bloomington are being talked about as a failure of the system and they are not; they are a designed piece of the system. And Computer Aided Dispatch, which went into service in July, will speed up responses because the system knows where all vehicles are all the time.
“It ensures the closest piece of equipment to the emergency is the one that's dispatched… whether they're on the way to restock, they're coming back from a call, they're doing routine maintenance out someplace, the fastest response is going to be guaranteed that way,” said McCarthy.
The town has said Bloomington units respond to Normal and Normal units to Bloomington in roughly equal measure, even though Bloomington is larger.
Firefighters have said call volumes have risen substantially in recent years which will create gaps in timely service. McCarthy said records show most units still spend most of the time available at stations.
“Within a 24-hour shift, we're still well within reasonable amounts of on call time within a 24-hour period. It seems like we're addressing it very well, and we're working to get to those places where we're not getting within that 4-6-minutes by relocating some stations,” said McCarthy.
McCarthy said the union study is not the only data out there. McCarthy says a lot of town research has gone into selecting sites for fire stations including the new one at Shepard and Hershey roads that will open when the College Avenue station closes.
"We're not just dropping push pins on a Google map. This is actually data and we actually have apparatuses out there driving routes. This is actually clocked work," said McCarthy.
The town will eventually relocate the third fire station, currently on Raab Road, possibly further west on Raab in an effort to offer better service on the west side of town, McCarthy said. He said the precise location will depend on property availability and on future data study by the town.
EMS System official's concerns
The issue is not going away though. More public comment came at this week's town council meeting. And Kris Newcomb, the system coordinator of the McLean County Area EMS System – Office of the Medical Director, sent a letter to council members urging them to embrace the union study.
“The tenuous state of EMS coverage in our community mirrors the broader EMS workforce challenges seen across the nation. However, local inaction amplifies the problem,” wrote Newcomb.
The system was established in 1999 as a collaboration between Carle BroMenn Medical Center and OSF St. Joseph Medical Center, according to the organization website. The EMS system represents 48 EMS agencies and over 900 providers from a mix of public, private, fire-based, third-service, industrial, university and dispatch agencies. The system also partners with Heartland Community College on a paramedic training program.
Newcomb cited rising demand for service and said the refusal of the town council to acknowledge that increase “coupled with stagnant staffing will lead to delayed response times, diminished quality of care, and increased provider burnout and turnover.”
She called it “shortsighted and deeply concerning.” Newcomb also took a veiled shot at other council decisions.
“It is crucial to remember that investment in the beautification, expansion, and progress of Uptown will come at the cost of EMS response times in that same area unless there is a concurrent investment in additional staffing for the Normal Fire Department,” said Newcomb.
McCarthy rejected Newcomb’s description of EMS service as “tenuous.”
“My understanding of that situation is that was that individual's personal political viewpoint. That was not the viewpoint of the agency ... The agency sponsors and funders were made aware of that letter … and apologized and reiterated that does not reflect the official position of that agency and that service,” said McCarthy.
Newcomb declined to be interviewed about her letter.
“OSF St. Joseph Medical Center jointly funds the System EMS Coordinator position to coordinate pre-hospital care in McLean County with the EMS,” said OSF St. Joseph Medical Center President Eunmee Shim. “OSF defers other questions to the Town of Normal and Normal fire rescue and their expertise.”
A spokesperson for the other funder of the position, Carle BroMenn Medical Center, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
City manager pay raise
On Monday, the town council approved a 4.8% pay raise for City Manager Pam Reece. Council member Kathleen Lorenz was the lone "no" vote. Lorenz criticized the size of the raise. Lorenz said raises for non-union city employees were around 3% while employees represented by collective bargaining received about a 4% pay bump.
"I just believe that 4.8 is excessive for the CEO of an organization to have such a greater amount than the rest of the organization," Lorenz said.
McCarthy said Lorenz’s contention was not fully accurate.
A spokesperson for the town said non-union employees increased 2.89%, firefighters’ union workers received 6%, and police officers union members increased 5%.
McCarthy noted the fire and police bargaining units comprise about a third of the town workforce. He said bigger than that is that the vast majority of the council thinks Reece is doing a “very good job” and has strong confidence in her.
“The town is in good position relative to all of our peers, and in almost every measure that you can imagine, we're making progress financially. We're making progress in roads and sewers and all the infrastructure work. And she's at the helm of that, and she's got experience,” said McCarthy.
He said Reece’s pay package is reasonable in comparison to her peers, given her success and experience.
