Not everybody on board with proposed merger
Union between twp. rescue squad and St. John's EMS has some residents concerned
BY KATHY CHANG Staff Writer
The potential merger between the Woodbridge Township Ambulance & Rescue Squad (WTARS) and St. John's Emergency Medical Service (EMS) in Fords has raised concerns.

Members of St. John's EMS said they feel they haven't been given the opportunity to prove themselves.

"We met with township officials — Mayor John E. McCormac and Ward 2 Councilman Richard Dalina and Councilman James Carroll — over a year ago expressing our staffing problems, and laid out a plan on how we would address the problem," said Art Nebus, president of St. John's EMS. "They have been looking at data from a year ago to two years ago. Since January 2009, we have been fully staffed 24 hours a day, seven days a week."

Talks between the two squads started last month. Township Business Administrator Robert Landolfi and Director of Emergency Management Patrick Kenny have sat in on the discussions.

The Township Council tabled the second reading of an ordinance involving redistricting the Fords and Keasbey first aid districts, which called for giving the area to the Woodbridge squad.

About a dozen Fords residents attended the June 23 council meeting, expressing their concerns about the potential merger.

John Gonyo, who was a member of St. John's for over 20 years before retiring, said there has been a lot of miscommunication over the past several months.

"If it had not been the mayor coming to one of our senior meetings last month, we would not have known about the merger," he said. "We were shocked."

McCormac said the merger would mean a more efficient operation for the residents of Fords.

"Both squads will see a lot of [improvement] in the long term, although the short term is good," he said. "I think the residents of Fords will feel safer than they did a month ago."

The mayor stressed that no changes would be made with staffing or with the current St. John's building located on Corrielle Street.

Kenny said that as emergency management director, he believes that the merged squads would make a stronger first aid squad.

"With the merger, there will definitely be no less than two rigs and as many as four rigs on call," he said.

Kenny said he looked at computer-aided dispatch data and made the suggestion to the squads.

"St. John's has been holding their own for the last six months; however, we have to look at the long picture. How long can they sustain that?" said Kenny.

The Hopelawn and Iselin First Aid squads have already merged with Woodbridge— with Hopelawn in 2000 and Iselin in 2001. The Woodbridge squad's building in located on Green Street.

"Looking at the records, I believe the residents would be better served," said Kenny. "If they all work together and put their hearts in as one, they will become a faster ambulance squad than working as two separate entities."

Nebus said it is a shame that the mayor and administration cite statistics only from 2007 and 2008 to base their decision of "inadequate service" instead of acknowledging the commitment, accomplishment and performance since their staffing problems were fully resolved this year.

Kenny added that his office has fielded complaints about St. John's agreement with Linden EMS a few years ago for a paid billing service.

Nebus said the reason they sought an outside organization, rather than a first aid squad in the township, was because of a concern about the burden that they would put on a township squad and the township as a whole if they had entered an agreement with one of them.

"We see the frequency of calls that are answered in the township, and we did not want to put a strain on the same EMS system," he said. "We are in the process of having Linden come in three days a week rather than five, and by the end of the year, we would be self-sufficient and not have to utilize Linden EMS."

Nebus said the start of a billing service was due to a decline in volunteerism for EMS.

"St. John's was not unique to this problem and never denied having problems answering calls," he said.

St. John's EMS, formerly the St. John's First Aid Squad, is a nonprofit organization founded in 1943 by members of the Fords community to provide EMS service to its residents.

"We are taking the sufficient steps [to show improvement]; it does not happen in one day," he said. "We feel that we have not been given the opportunity to show our improvements."

Nebus said they began the process of licensing their ambulances by the New Jersey Department of Health (DOH) in order to start insurance billing and hiring emergency medical technicians (EMTs). St. John's received its state license in November 2008 and started the hiring process.

Since January 2009, St. John's has had a fully staffed ambulance with two EMTs in their building responding to calls 24 hours a day, seven days a week, not only in Fords and Keasbey but also in surrounding towns such as Perth Amboy, Woodbridge and Metuchen.

Longtime members of the St. John's squad said that if the merger goes through, they will not stay.

Kenny said the merger involves the two squads to re-evaluate in two years.

"A study will be done by a third party on what needs to be looked at, whether the building on Corrielle Street is in the right location or if it is even needed," he said. "If the study says the building needs to stay, it will stay."

Kenny said that during the merger, St. John's will be given the choice to stay as the St. John's organization or to disband.

WTARS President Ed Barret said that his squad is in favor of the merger, but that he could not comment at the present time because of continued talks with St. John's.

This week the two squads will exchange financial records. Township officials said that if all goes as planned, the merger will begin in the fall.