The City of Warren has triggered a notice requirement that could pave the way for city ambulances to no longer respond to some county municipalities.

An agreement is in place with five municipalities — Clarendon Borough and Cherry Grove, Pleasant, Sheffield and Mead townships, which banded together to form an EMS commission.

This new letter went to everyone else.

Acknowledging that the city has been responding into municipalities subject to a 2016 county–wide response plan, city officials assert that the city is “no longer able to continue to provide EMS (emergency medical services) assistance in non-mutual aid situations without compensation.”

Fire Chief Dave Krogler cited a letter that the city received from the Pa. Department of Health back in 2019. That letter outlined the process by which the city could limit where it responds.

“This letter (to the municipalities) provides the 90-day notice for change of service expectation as required per the PA-DOH letter… the City received,” he said.

That notice outlines a multi-step process that could result in the city limiting response.

From the letter: “This letter serves as notice to you, as required by the Pennsylvania Department of Health that effective ninety days from your receipt of this notice, the City will no longer provide EMS assistance to the (municipality) in non-mutual aid situations without charging the (municipality) a fee.”

The fee – set at $500 for a response to a municipality where there is no agreement in place — is set by council annually as part of the city’s fee schedule.

That’s significantly higher than the terms negotiated with the commission — $300 per call or $150 in an instance where the city is dispatched but turned around enroute.

The letter openly states that the city “is willing to consider entering into an agreement with the (municipality) for the provision of non-mutual aid ambulance services at costs that are lower than” the fee schedule.

It further explains that, without an agreement and once the 90 days has passed, the “fee adopted by City Council will be charged to the(municipality).

“If the fees are not paid within thirty (30) days of the invoice date, the (city) will no longer respond to any non-mutual aid EMS/BLS dispatch to the (municipality).”

The obligation to provide EMS falls to the municipal government. But the system in the county — the city and EmergyCare as paid entities and volunteers elsewhere — has serious and critical cracks, especially during daytime hours.

That’s why the commission came to terms with the city on an agreement to provide coverage.

The letter from the city, signed by City Manager Mike Holtz, invites municipal officials to “schedule a meeting with the City to discuss the parameters of an intermunicipal agreement….”