Those involved with Woolwich EMS and North East Mobile Health have said the bottom line is patient care, but personnel conflicts have strained the working relationship between the two entities.

In spite of this, they have agreed to experiment with a new system that will hand over full emergency responsibilities to the Woolwich crew on weekends, at least until North East's three-year contract with Woolwich runs out in June.

In the meantime, Woolwich has asked the town of Wiscasset to consider adding its ambulance service to include coverage of Woolwich on weekdays. This would cost Woolwich $3,000 per year, but, according to Wiscasset Ambulance Service Director Roland Abbott, would generate between $15,000 and $25,000 in income for Woolwich through additional transport service. Abbott and Woolwich EMS Director Dana Lindsey had been discussing the plan in previous meetings.

Abbott said he would speak with Town Manager Laurie Smith about this proposal. If Woolwich decides to continue its contract with North East, selectmen there concluded Wiscasset would only have to take this new responsibility off its list.

A town meeting warrant article will ask voters to raise and appropriate the sum of up to $3,000 for ambulance service for one year and to allow selectmen to sign a contract with a provider. King said this gives the town the option of choosing one of either service.

“This would be a great opportunity for Dana to explain a lot of this to the town,” board of selectmen member Allison Hepler said.

During a workshop earlier in the day, North East paramedic and Topsham Division Commander Lori Rice, along with North East Deputy Chief Steve Bennett presented a quarterly report to selectmen. They responded to reported concerns about long response times to 911 calls.

Data on their report shows increased call volumes during daytime hours in 2012 and of 57 calls in the first quarter of 2013 (January to March) an average response time of 17.8 minutes.

Last fall, the company began providing an “on call” crew to respond to night time calls when additional help is needed. They also started a 30-day trial in which they park a paramedic-level truck at Mid Coast Hospital to reduce response times during the day when Woolwich EMS coverage is light.

With respect to training, North East states its staff taught a documentation class in January and a Basic EKG class in May 2012.  “(Woolwich EMS) has always been invited to all NEMHS trainings and many offers to teach at the WEMS base have been offered,” the report states. “There has been little response to our invitations for joint training opportunities.”

Lindsey strongly indicated his support for entering into a contract with Wiscasset. He said they have been working with North East for nine years and the company has not offered the same plan proposed by Abbott.

“There has been training that they've offered. There's been some other services that they've offered,” he said. “But there's never been any gesture by North East that would really help Woolwich EMS and its endeavor to become self-sufficient, until now. And that came as a result of our conversation.”

Woolwich Board of Selectmen chairman David King said the service North East has provided was a significant switch from a previous agreement Woolwich had with the town of Bath nine years ago. At the time, Woolwich had first responders and were required to pay the town of Bath some $70,000 per year, as well as to cover unpaid dues Bath could not successfully collect from patients.

“I haven't made up my mind which way to go here yet,” King said. “But I just want to say that over the nine year period I think North East has done a lot of good for the town of Woolwich.”

Woolwich Intermediate EMT Dick Brigance expressed some concerns about the way he feels North East treats the Woolwich crew. During the workshop, he mentioned a call he and other Woolwich EMTs responded to in which North East arrived and transported the patient. “North East showed up and said they're taking over,” he said. “We were right in the middle splinting a broken arm.”

At the meeting, Brigance said a previous contract proposal from North East stated Woolwich EMS would not be allowed to transport any patient without North East's prior approval. He said their contract language has since changed.

In response to a resident's question about how voters would decide which emergency medical service Woolwich should contract with, King said there could be a consensus vote taken at the annual town meeting.