Ambulance service extended in Brewer

BREWER – The city has extended its three-year agreement with Meridian Mobile Health for paramedic-level ambulance coverage for another three years.

The Brewer City Council authorized the extension during its monthly meeting in August. Representatives of the city and Meridian signed the agreement to that end this month.

According to Brewer Fire Chief Richard Bronson, the provisions of the three-year extension are largely the same as those of the initial three-year pact.

Eastern Maine Healthcare’s Meridian Mobile Health, which operates Capital Ambulance Service, will continue to base a full-time paramedic and an ambulance in Brewer’s fire station at no cost to the city.

In addition, Meridian will continue to cover the cost – currently estimated at $143,235 a year – for four additional firefighter-emergency medical technicians.

One change, however, is how backup coverage is provided, noted Carl Bottorf, director of operations for the ambulance company.

In the past, ambulances based at Meridian’s headquarters on Harlow Street in Bangor were sent to Brewer when Brewer’s primary ambulance, Capital 309, was out on an emergency medical call. That will continue. To be added to the mix is a third level of coverage, Bottorf said Wednesday.

The city of Brewer is in the process of becoming licensed by the state to transport patients. Once that occurs, Meridian will provide another ambulance that will be housed at the fire station in Brewer, though it won’t be a paramedic-level ambulance. That ambulance will be deployed in the event that the primary and secondary ambulances both are tied up.

The Meridian ambulance based in Brewer handles calls from Brewer, Eddington, Orrington, Clifton, Holden and Dedham.

According to Bronson, all of the city’s full-time firefighters are licensed at least at the basic EMT level. Some have moved up to the intermediate level.

Meridian Mobile Health is a branch of Affiliated Healthcare Systems that provides medical transportation services. AHS, a for-profit division of Eastern Maine Healthcare, also offers lab, pharmacy, transcription and workplace drug and alcohol testing services, among other things.

Under its agreement with Brewer, Meridian acts as an independent contractor for the city and, as such, is responsible for paying its employees and providing fringe benefits.