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Sense of urgency to EMS model

It appears push has come to shove concerning EMS responses by Warren firefighters outside the city’s limits.

The City Council will meet later this month to discuss sending a letter to the state asking permission for the Warren Fire Department to no longer be required to respond to EMS calls outside city limits.

We’re not sure the state would agree to such a request. Nor are we sure, in our opinion, that path should be taken.

But officials in Brokenstraw, Conewango, Glade, Mead, Pine Grove, Pleasant, Sheffield and Youngsville should take the city seriously.

Warren is responding more and more often outside the city without compensation — and it isn’t right for city taxpayers to subsidize lower taxes for residents outside the city. And that’s exactly what’s happening here under the guise of neighborly mutual aid agreements.

City residents have paid for a certain level of emergency response and are sharing that emergency response with their neighbors outside the city with very little compensation.

Warren officials have seen the EMS coverage can kicked down the road for so long that the can has reached the Ohio state line.

The time for talk about a fair regional EMS model is done. It’s time for action.

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