Emergency services could use a little more authority

COULD THE QUESTION of how to save emergency services be all about authority? Pennsylvania has issues with its first response providers. Aside from police departments having trouble filling positions, there are the struggles of fire departments and emergency medical service providers. Most Keystone State fire departments are staffed entirely or in part by volunteers. Those volunteers are becoming harder to find. That doesn’t just affect the number of people who show up at a fire. It means there are fewer people to do the fundraising crucial to keeping the trucks on the road. For emergency medical services, there is a mixture of problems. Shortage of staff and volunteers is one. Shortfalls of funding from insurance and Medicare reimbursements is another. It makes it hard to provide the ambulance response people rely on. Jeannette EMS closed in 2023; its ambulances were just sold in its bankruptcy proceedings. Eureka Community Ambulance Service in Tarentum might not be far behind. And that’s where authority could be the solution. In Pennsylvania, a municipal authority is a government agency set up to take the burden of a specific task. It might handle sewer or water service like the Municipal Authority of Westmoreland County. There are parking authorities, airport authorities, recreation authorities and transit authorities. Pittsburgh’s public image is framed by the Sports & Exhibition Authority, which governs Acrisure Stadium, PNC Park, PPG Paints Arena, David L. Lawrence Convention Center and more. Brackenridge is exploring the idea of an EMS authority to make sure Eureka ambulances can continue to operate for the 12,000 people in the five municipalities it covers. It is a way to force financial coverage of services that often fall through the cracks because they aren’t directly provided by the local government. It would be a more stable and dependable way of ensuring service than relying on easily rejected insurance claims. Brackenridge Councilman Verne Petz voted against the idea, saying it should be a county-wide effort. He is correct. Allegheny and Westmoreland counties could benefit by looking at this option. If they took the initiative to create emergency services authorities, that might be the best way to support struggling local services and share resources. It could be more cost effective. That would benefit the providers and taxpayers. An authority would have jurisdiction where a nonprofit doesn’t. And emergency services are at least as important as water and sewer service — arguably more critical than parking and sports arenas.