By Ally Lanasa, Staff Writer

(Jan. 28, 2021) Berlin Fire Company President David Fitzgerald presented the quarterly report from Oct. 1, 2020 to Dec. 31, 2020 to the Berlin Mayor and Council on Monday.

During that period, the Berlin Fire Company responded to 37 in-town fire or rescue calls, which is 42.5 percent of the total calls. The fire company responded to 50 calls outside of the town limits.

For the fire and rescue staff, the busiest days were Wednesday and Thursday from Oct. 1, 2020 to Dec. 31, 2020, with the busiest times of day being 4-5 p.m.

The fire-rescue response time during that period was 3.97 minutes, and the Matrix report states the response should be nine minutes or less.

Fitzgerald added that the county response time standard to respond from the station is six minutes.

“What happens then if Berlin Fire Company does not respond within six minutes? They start alerting the next appropriate company based on the location of the call,” he said.

Fitzgerald also presented revenue budget highlight that showed the fire company has received all of its funds from the county and 75 percent of its funds from the town as per the contract.

Donations to the fire company were less from October to December 2020 than the same period in past years, but Fitzgerald said the donations were higher than budgeted because of memorial donations for several firefighters who passed away.

The fire company was unable to host any fundraisers because of covid-19 social distancing restrictions.

“Nor did we feel our members should increasingly be exposed to covid ’cause we need to make sure they’re ready to respond for emergency responses,” Fitzgerald said.

As for expenses, the fire company had an unexpected cost for replacing two computers, which was indicated in the last quarterly report as well.

There were no large repairs for the vehicle maintenance that was completed in this quarter, so the account remains in budget.

“However, we did recently find that our building generator has some repairs, and we should be able to stay within our budget in that category,” Fitzgerald said. “We have a large generator that if we have a power outage, it can power the fire station fully.”

The fire company was reimbursed by Worcester County through CARES funding for personal protective equipment (PPE) and sanitation supplies in the amount of $7,269.17.

The Town Council will discuss the fire company’s capital budget during the budget process.

In the immediate future, Fitzgerald said breathing apparatuses, which have approached the end of their shelf life, need to be replaced.

“We will try to apply for some grants,” he said. “We do know that grants will not cover 100 percent of our needs, but we will make every attempt to get some grant funding for these breathing apparatuses.”

He also reminded the council that town cuts will result in reduced state aid funds in the next budget.

Fitzgerald also provided a quarterly update for the Emergency Medical Services (EMS) at the Berlin company.

Between Oct. 1, 2020 and Dec. 31, 2020, the EMS staff responded to 258 in-town calls, making up 60.9 percent of total calls, and 165 calls outside of town.

The EMS staff also conducted 189 transports and 69 non-transports in town during the quarter.

The busiest day for EMS was Thursday followed by Tuesday. The busiest hour of the day was 10-11 a.m. The majority of calls for EMS came between 8 a.m. and 3 p.m. for the quarter, Fitzgerald said.

The average response time of the EMS staff is nearly one and half minutes, which includes the second and third run calls that may be full volunteer response from home.

The review of random staffed EMS calls meet the 60-second standard for response times, which is based on the Matrix report.

“We mail out our annual donations for EMS in November every year,” Fitzgerald said. “They are on budget.”

He added that invoices were down about 11 percent because the call volume is down with the coronavirus. Although the quantity of calls have decreased, Fitzgerald said the time to respond on calls has significantly extended for the safety of staff, their families and patients.

“Now, there’s additional procedures to disinfect,” he said. “There’s also downtime with the staff. Many, especially if they are transporting a covid patient or what we call a PUI (a person under investigation) because they have certain symptoms, they are changing their clothes, they are showering.”

Additionally, all county funds were received for operating and the ambulance replacement. Per the agreement, EMS have received 50 percent of town funds.

As for expenses, payroll was slightly higher than 50 percent.

“We’re going to check those numbers, but we believe it was slightly over because some of the over-time and stuff it’s taken to staff the ambulances,” Fitzgerald said.

All the other EMS accounts are within budget.

Similar to the fire company, the EMS was reimbursed by Worcester County through CARES funding for additional expenses of PPE and sanitation supplies in the amount of $33,557.33.

Currently, there are no capital funds for ambulance replacements.

“Fortunately, all three of the ambulances have been replaced,” Fitzgerald said. “We do have a loan payment due on the last ambulance.”

All county funds are used to pay for the ambulance loan payment with no town funds provided.

The capital budget for FY21-22 has been submitted to the town.

“One of the discussions we’ll have to have is our cardiac monitor replacements,” Fitzgerald said. “Besides the ambulance, that’s the second largest expenditure and most important piece of equipment for a life-saving cardiac event.”

The 15-year-old cardiac monitors are at the end of their life cycle.

Responding to Councilman Dean Burrell’s request at the previous budget report, Fitzgerald presented the personnel reduction due to town budget cut.

The FY 19-20 EMS budget, which was $319,000, was reduced $84,285 for FY 20-21 EMS budget.

As a result of the 26 percent reduction, the EMS immediately eliminated the fourth person of the day crew from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. for a total of $56,575.

The EMS had further cuts to make, so the third provider shift is not being filled for another $27,710.

Furthermore, there are 24 shifts where only two personnel work to save approximately $9,300.

Councilman Jay Knerr asked Fitzgerald to provide a written report to the council prior to the meeting with more detail about finances to which he agreed.

Responding to Town Administrator Jeff Fleetwood, Fitzgerald said the fire company is evaluating its eligibility for an Assistance to Firefighters Grant.

Fleetwood told him the town received the annual Sen. William H. Amoss Fire, Rescue and Ambulance Fund from the county on Monday, which totaled $10,800 for the Berlin Fire Company.

Those funds have already been allocated as the fire company expected to receive the grant.

Fitzgerald clarified to the council that EMS does not receive state aid funds.

Lastly, he also informed the council about Senate Bill 389, which was introduced by three senators, for the Maryland Medical Assistance program emergency services reimbursement.

Fitzgerald said that if an ambulance responds to a call anywhere in the state for a patient on Maryland Medical Assistance, the EMS has only received $100 for years.

“What [the bill] does is increases — not by much — but it authorizes in fiscal year ’22 to increase the amount $25 each year until this gets to $300,” he said.

Mayor Zackery Tyndall asked Fitzgerald to provide the Town Council with more information about the calls for service and estimated projections for that to write a letter of support in favor of the bill.