Plum EMS Celebrates 20 Years of Service, Continues to Expand

Plum’s Emergency Medical Services celebrates two decades of service to the borough this year and Bob Moran is proud of how far it has come.

“It’s a respected service in the community and a respected service in the hospitals,” Moran, the EMS deputy director said.

This week has been designated as Plum EMS week by borough Mayor Richard Hrivnak.

“I’m extremely proud of the job they’ve done over the past 20 years,” he said. “They’ve been extremely successful and provided a great service to our residents."

The service officially turned 20 this past March.

Last month, the service celebrated this milestone with a dinner and celebration to honor staff and supporters for their efforts.

“It’s a proud achievement,” Hrivnak said. “They’re very committed to public service.”

Former Plum Mayor Al Franci was a driving force behind the Plum EMS formation, according to Moran.

In the late eighties, Franci’s grandson needed emergency medical services.

When Franci saw the response time wasn’t as fast as it could be, he vowed that if elected, he would make bringing emergency medical services to the borough a priority.

“That (response time) surprised him,” Moran said. “He said if he was going to get elected, he was going to see what could be done to enhance EMS services in the community.”

The borough decided to go with a service that included paid staff and operated as a non-profit.

Within its first week, the service hired six full-time staff to cover its regular shifts.

“As we continued to grow, we continued to see the call volume increase,” Moran said.

As its call volume increased, so did the Plum EMS itself.

The service now includes 10 full-time and between 15 and 18 part-time Emergency Medical Technicians and paramedics, Moran said.

It also features up-to-date technology—some of which has been only available to Plum EMS because of donations, grant money, and benefactors.

Among that technology are glidescopes, which provide a clear view of the airway through use of a tiny camera.

Purchased through the donation of residents Gordon and Shirley Kidd, the devices allow for a much safer and accurate intubation procedure.

The Mobile Data Terminal, or MDT, is a real-time data system that provides the background and history of the home that the EMS is responding to.

“It’s basically the story of the call,” Chris Hendershot, paramedic supervisor said.

The MDTs were purchased with grant money that the borough received for the borough’s police department.

When there were additional funds left over, Plum purchased three MDTs for the EMS and one for each of the borough’s fire department’s trucks.

“When you have 10 calls in an eight hour shift, it helps” Hendershot said.

As it moves into the future, emergency response service in the borough continues to expand.

In addition to advanced technology, Moran credits the Quick Response Service—a part of each of the borough’s volunteer fire departments—with improving the care borough residents receive.

As for Plum EMS, its plans for the future include a new building.

Moran said they’d like to enlarge their facilities—now housed in the borough’s old maintenance buildings—but not move too far way.

“Our average response time is eight minutes from where we’re located now,” he said. “Now our goal is to try and find a place on the same area or in the area so we can grow for the future and do it in the right way.”

The importance of the service is one that many residents might not consider until they have to, Moran said.

When someone moves into a community, they often consider the quality of the schools, the shopping areas, and other everyday services and businesses, Moran said. Emergency services aren't high on that list.

“Fire departments and EMS are low on the list,” he said. “A lot of people figure it won’t happen to them.”

It’s not until something does happen that people consider the importance of the service, and consider the necessity of supporting that service, Moran said.

Plum EMS, which isn’t supported by taxes and receives support for about one-tenth of its budget from the borough, relies on the community as much as the community relies on the service.

A subscription drive, where residents donate $40 per household on an annual basis, contributes about 20 percent of the costs of running Plum EMS. Currently, the service receives support from about 30 percent of the residents and businesses in Plum.

In return for supporting the service, the EMS will take whatever a resident’s insurance will cover in the event they do have to send an ambulance to the resident’s house.

Moran credits Plum Borough for the success of the EMS system, which, he said hasn’t missed a shift in the 20 years since it began.

“We couldn’t do it without the support of the borough,” he said. “There’s a lot of communities around us that don’t have the privilege to have that kind of coverage.”

For more information: http://www.plumems.com/