Paramedic service put on hold

Michael Gannon, Register Staff May 16, 2001

STRATFORD — The Town Council this week decided further study was needed before voting on a plan to provide paramedic service through the Fire Department.

"The council just wants to give it further consideration," Town Manager Mark Barnhart said Tuesday. The proposal would train and equip firefighters to provide paramedic service, and would place them under the license granted to Stratford by the state Department of Public Health. Stratford currently has paramedic service provided by Stratford Emergency Medical Service, the town’s volunteer rescue organization. The Stratford firefighters’ union, Local 998 of the International Association of Firefighters, approved the proposed agreement with the town last week. Lt. Jack Conway, president of the union, could not be reached for comment Tuesday. Conway earlier said union members are enthusiastic about the agreement. Conway said eight Stratford firefighters are paramedics, and that five more are in training. If the town accepts the tentative pact as written, department paramedics would receive an extra stipend of an unspecified amount over and above their firefighter pay. The town would pay for continued schooling of certified paramedics and to train new ones as the need arises. Conway said the paramedic agreement is technically separate from the current union contract, which expires July 2002. Barnhart said Tuesday that the council couldn’t simply vote on an amended proposal if it does not like the current one. "They would have to reject as a whole and give management directions as to what they want done," he said. It then would go back to the union for further negotiations.

©New Haven Register 2001