Bronson Fire Department expects to begin the operation of a LifeCare "safety net" ambulance in its six-township jurisdiction within the next couple of weeks. 

Tuesday morning, the fire association's new executive board approved a plan for fire department staff to transport priority 1, the most critical patients, in all six of its townships when a LifeCare unit is unavailable. 

Earlier report:Bronson Fire and LifeCare work on safety net ambulance agreement

LifeCare will supply and equip the vehicle. 

Fire Chief Scott Wilber said the board was clear that, "as long as we keep from burning out our responders, we want to do this to help the community because there's a huge need."

Because of staff shortages, LifeCare does not have the workforce to serve all of Branch County and portions of St. Joseph, Barry, Berrien, Calhoun,  Eaton and Kalamazoo counties. It results in lengthy response times.

The division of Emergent Health Services serves 63 municipalities with more than 30 vehicles for transporting those in need of medical care. 

"We hope we can do it for long enough to resolve the EMS shortage of personnel and workers. Is that going to be a year from now? Is it going to be three years from now? Is it going to be five years from now? No one knows. Everybody's competing for the same people," Wilber said. 

The board raised concerns the limited staff will burn out.

"They were comfortable enough with a six-month trial," Wilber said.

A month or two was too short of a period for evaluation.

"For six months, we can track the cost, gauge our people, and answer, can they handle this extra duty?" he said.

Eight firefighters supported the plan in a June meeting of department medical first- responders. One was opposed and two members were neutral to adding the service. Several first-responders expressed interest in obtaining an EMT license. 

Wilber said it will take a couple of months to "work out the bugs" on how to operate. There is a 30-day notice to cancel from either party under the agreement.

"If things go sideways, or we get two or three of our key people, and they can't do this anymore, then we can evaluate and walk away," he said.

One-fourth of the Bronson fire department staff is at least age 60. Wilber hopes to recruit younger volunteers who might be able to just work as EMTs without obtaining fire certification. 

Currently, a number of the EMTs live south away from where most of the medical calls originate in the city.

"We would like more staff living in or near the city," he said. 

He expects on medical calls that the first two men at the firehouse would take the ambulance, then as others arrive, they would bring the fire rescue unit. 

"We're going to be running two vehicles instead of one," he said. "So, there's going to be a little bit of an increase in fuel. I don't think any slight increases will put us put our budget into jeopardy."

LifeCare will pay Bronson Fire what it charges for running the call. The department will operate under LifeCare insurance. 

Wilber will obtain approval from the hospital medical control and 911 to implement the service. 

"Our next step would be training," he said, adding he hopes it can begin next week. "There's a safety system in the ambulance for driving. It keeps track of speeds, G-force, braking, and all of that good stuff. Some of our non-medically licensed personnel will be trained so they can drive the ambulance for us if need be."

Training is required on the ambulance cot system and patient handling. Personnel must also learn the documentation system LifeCare uses.