COLUMBIA, Pa. — A former director of Columbia’s ambulance service urged Borough Council on Tuesday to pull out of a pilot program that lets lower-priority 911 calls wait for a Penn State Health Life Lion ambulance instead of going to the next available crew.
Frank Splain Jr., who said he ran Columbia EMS for 16 years and has more than 50 years in emergency services, said the program puts residents at risk.
Under the pilot, when Life Lion is busy and a call is ranked as Class 3, the lowest-priority type, the call can be held for 15 minutes while waiting for a Life Lion unit to free up, rather than being sent to another ambulance company.
Splain described a resident he called “Mrs. Smith” who falls and hurts her leg. “Mrs. Smith lays there for 15 minutes because Penn State’s busy,” he said. Add the time it takes to answer the 911 call and a possible second hold, he said, and “you’re pushing close to an hour.”
“Columbia deserves the best,” Splain said. “This is nothing against Penn State Life Lion.” He asked council to form a committee with people who know EMS.
What council says
Councilperson Byers said that after Splain raised the issue last month, the borough asked Life Lion about it. He said Lancaster County-Wide Communications, the 911 center, had incorrectly stated in a letter that calls could be held 30 minutes. A call is held for 15 minutes, he said, and only the county 911 center, not Life Lion, can extend that, in rare cases.
Byers said one reason for joining the pilot is to keep Life Lion’s ambulances closer to Columbia, which should improve response times for borough residents overall. “This is just a trial period, so at any point we can opt out of it,” he said, adding he would meet with Splain to talk further.
Councilperson Murphy said council signed on for a reason and wants to see the results at the end of the trial before deciding.
The discussion grew heated when Council President Eric Kauffman asked Splain whether he was affiliated with another ambulance company. Splain said he is not and is speaking as someone who cares about Columbia.
A council member noted that EMS services across the state are short of ambulances, EMTs and paramedics, and that running an ambulance service has become very expensive.