By Ken Smith
Turnagain Times
After reading a front-page article in the last issue of the Turnagain Times “Whittier collects over $2 million in cruise tax,” Girdwood Fire Chief Bill Chadwick was not happy. What caught his attention was the city’s intention to spend money on EMS personnel and equipment, but no mention of allocating funds for Girdwood.
“We’ve been providing emergency medical service to Whittier since 2004 for free,” Chadwick said.
Chadwick is going to present his case to the Whittier City Council and hopefully get them to agree to provide some financial assistance for Girdwood’s medical services.
He expressed his intentions to the Girdwood Board of Supervisors at their last meeting Feb. 16 and said he has spoken to Whittier City Manager Mark Earnest. Chadwick said he is optimistic that Girdwood will receive some funds for the coming summer season when medical calls are at their peak.
Earnest said he understands Chadwick’s position and recognizes the importance of Girdwood’s service to the community.
“We all recognize their work and the associated cost with that service,” he said. “We’re trying to figure out some way to help out in that regard. It’s something we’ll certainly be working to look at to offset costs.”
Earnest cited the transient work force in Whittier for the lack of EMS personnel, but said they are in the process of hiring a new group.
“We are in the process of assessing our EMTs,” he said. “We hire a paramedic and EMT every summer during the cruise ship season, but we still must rely on support from Girdwood. We must find a way to work it out with them.”
Last year, Chadwick said the Girdwood Volunteer Fire Dept. responded 32 times to Whittier.
“That’s pretty close to 10 percent of our calls,” he said. “We had about 211 EMS incidents last year. I think it’s time for them to start paying their way.”
Chadwick said Whittier is hampered by a lack of a successful volunteer program, which places a heavy burden on Girdwood’s volunteer fire department.
“We’ve provided training programs and opportunities to attend classes in Girdwood,” he said, “but they’ve had a problem retaining people.”
Chadwick said they would not stop responding to calls, but he insists Whittier must start paying for services.
“That $2 million dollar tax windfall is twice the size of the Girdwood Service Area budget,” he said.
Chadwick estimates the total cost of the 32 calls last year to Whittier at $24,200, about $758 per call.
“From the Muni, we get a total budget of $160,000 for area-wide EMS service,” he said.