An ongoing feud between the City of Warren and two municipalities could complicate emergency medical service response in the coming weeks.

The City of Warren has issued notices to Conewango Township and Youngsville Borough that the city “shall no longer respond… in non-mutual aid EMS situations without charging a fee for said service.

The 90-day notice to Conewango will expire in a month with the notice to Youngsville following about a month behind.

The notice is the outgrowth of a change in city policy that seeks to see the city reimbursed when it responds into the outlying municipalities.

Responsibility to provide EMS service falls to municipal leaders. Several municipalities – especially those who have partnered and formed an EMS commission – have entered into agreement with the City of Warren for reimbursement at reduced rates.

No such agreement is in place between the city and Conewango or Youngsville and the notice was issued after an invoice went unpaid for a period of time.

The city’s notice isn’t an outright refusal to respond to the municipalities but that threat has previously been discussed.

Whether the city can refuse to go is another question entirely.

City officials cite a 2021 letter from the state Department of Health that they say gives them that option.

But a letter from the state earlier this year appears to contradict that idea.

It’s dated April 24 and came from Aaron Rhone, director of the Bureau of EMS, which is under the Department of Health.

That letter acknowledges that the city isn’t obligated to participate in any county-wide response plan but cautions that the “City of Warren Fire Department should work in collaboration with the county PSAP (911 Center) and other county EMS agencies to establish dispatch protocols.

“An EMS agency must respond when dispatched” per code, the letter states.

Rhone included the relevant part of the statute: “An EMS agency shall respond to a call for emergency assistance as communicated by the PSAP, provided it is able to respond as requested. An EMS agency is able to respond as requested if it has the staff and an operational EMS vehicle, if needed, capable of responding to the dispatch.

“An EMS agency may not refuse to respond to a dispatch based upon a desire to keep staff or an EMS vehicle in reserve to respond to other calls to which it has not already committed.”

Regardless of the city’s next move, the 911 Center will continue to dispatch the nearest available resource when a call comes in. That’s their job.

Warren County Public Safety Director Ken McCorrison affirmed that the 911 Center will continue to dispatch the city to those municipalities and said that message has been conveyed to the city.

McCorrison said that’s especially important during the week when the county is “extremely limited on resources.”

Multiple sources told the Times Observer that the Department of Health recently held a virtual meeting to get the City of Warren, EmergyCare and the municipalities to the table amid the ongoing dispute.

City of Warren Fire Chief Dave Krogler said the goal of the meeting in his view was the Department of Health “trying to encourage (that) we work together.”

“We stated our thoughts and our case,” he said.

City Manager Mike Holtz said part of the issue is a need to “honor the ones that are paying.”

When the notice period expires, will the city stop responding to Conewango and Youngsville?

“We’ll see,” Holtz said. “(I’m) sure the city is going to take some action in some form.”