Emergency Medical Services, EMS, first responder protocol during mutual assist emergencies outside of Mullett Township boundaries was addressed at Tuesday’s Mullettt Township regular board meeting. Trustee Dennis Dombroski recently received a complaint about an EMS first responder who also is a fireman taking the initiative to respond to mutual assist calls. Dombroski relayed that concern to Mullett Township Supervisor Mary Anne Gale who brought the complaint to the board. “The complaint was one of our township firemen was basically… that the concern was that he was abusing the medical assist policy that the fire guys have with the EMTs (emergency medical technician) and going out of his way to respond to medical assists in other townships other than Mullett Township, and the fact is Mullett Township taxpayers are paying for that, and I think it’s a concern,” said Dombroski. “It is one to look into, and I think if you need to respond to a… if there is an issue, say Tuscarora asking for help, it should be through the mutual aid policies that we have in place where the Tuscarora chief or designee actually contacts our chiefs or our designees in case you guys are out of touch and answer that assist. That shouldn’t be on the individual’s decision to just go on his own and then put that on his time sheet and we pay for it,” continued Dombroski. East Mullett Fire Chief John Parrott said the Mullett Township first responder was the closest to an emergency situation at a credit union in Cheboygan. All other county ambulances were dispatched and unavailable. Mullett Township’s ambulance service was the only available option next to dispatching an ambulance from Mackinaw City nearly 30 miles away. The first responder contacted central dispatch and asked if he was needed to respond. Central dispatch asked him to respond, said Parrott. “But if you don’t want us to help save people then…” said Parrott. Supervisor Gale said the issue wasn’t about saving people. “Well, it’s not about that,” said Gale. “It’s about who makes the decision. We don’t know if this is in isolation or if this is a regular thing. There are a lot of medical assists in our township; we think they’re in our township. My personal feeling is our taxpayers should pay for medical assists within our township unless something goes through our chiefs that they need to have help.” Topinabee Fire Chief Mike English reiterated the circumstances surrounding the medical assist at the credit union in Cheboygan, stating he was the only responder in the area who could’ve answered the emergency in a reasonable amount of time. “I think the majority of them, he has been requested, truthfully,” said English. Normally, this wouldn’t be a problem but Mullett Township is not an EMS company, said Gale. “That’s not our job,” said Gale. “Our job is fire, and the EMS is great and it’s a wonderful community service so I personally think it’s fantastic. I just don’t want it abused.” Parrott explained another incident involving the first responder trained fireman who was leaving a meeting when an accident occurred in front of the building where the meeting was being held. “There was an accident right out front as he was leaving, and he officially called on the radio to say he was there, gave an update to the responding ambulance, and that was what the big issue is over,” said Parrott. “And it wasn’t in Mullett Township.” Parrots says it’s not only a professionally trained emergency responder’s moral obligation to offer aid to a person in need; it is also a legal obligation. If one is a certified emergency responder closest to an emergency and does not respond, he or she can be criminally charged under the law. “If you’re in the area … and someone’s having a heart attack, it’s only pertinent that you stop and you help that person,” said Parrott. “And if the ambulance is far away you might be dead by that time.” The first responder’s responsibility is to keep the individual alive until the ambulance arrives, said Parrott. Cheboygan County townships have a mutual aid agreement where township personnel and equipment can be used to assist other townships during emergencies. This occurred at two separate fires last weekend, one in Mullett Township and one in Inverness Township. An emergency first responder in Mullett Township bills $30 for the first hour and $15 per each additional hour after the first. Most emergency situations do not last one hour as the ambulance arrives and takes the victim to a hospital at which point the first responder’s services are no longer necessary, said Parrott. “There’s not a firefighter or first responder in the county who is in it for the money,” said Parrott. “You get 20 to 30 dollars a call to get out of bed at 2 in the morning. The money may cover the cost of personal expenses. Often first responders who go into a fire with their personal clothes underneath, they get so sooty and smell that they just end up throwing them away.” Gale and Dombroski said they were concerned about the appearance. “I don’t begrudge any of it,” said Gale. “I’m just saying we’re paying as taxpayers for our township and Tuscarora is paying for their township and Cheboygan is paying for theirs, whatever. I don’t want us to just coincidentally every time there’s a call have one of our guys go because he happens to be there. I mean there’s a lot of other EMS guys in the townships so I just think we need to be a little bit careful about giving somebody carte blanche to go wherever he wants to go to, you know, join the ambulance squad if that’s what he wants to do. If he wants to save lives, you know, there are lots of other ways you can do it besides be a firefighter and run an EMS and all.” This wouldn’t be an issue except for someone knowledgable of recent emergency responder practice in Mullett Township felt it was problematic enough to contact the board. “I mean it’s obviously got other people knowledgable of it and upset about it because they wouldn’t have called and made a complaint if they had not been, and we have to respond to complaints, so I’m not as concerned as this other person who is much more knowledgeable about it, and I think we have to respect somebody who has that kind of knowledge about what’s been going on,” said Gale. Dombroski said he doesn’t have a problem with mutual aid but wants both Mullett Township fire chiefs to be aware and monitor the undisclosed citizen’s complaint. “I’m ok with the chiefs monitoring it, and as John suggested, if they want to volunteer on their own and not put it on the timesheet because they’re out of township,” said Dombroski. “But, certainly if there’s a mutual aid call, then obviously we pay for that because that’s our agreement. We’re going to pay you guys if Tuscarora calls for you on mutual aid. I know Mike, you guys, all responded in Inverness; that’s a charge. You had a really busy day that day and then turn around because you ended up having a major structure fire and Tuscarora and Inverness helped. That’s what mutual aid is all about, and we’re definitely going to be paying everybody that was involved in that mutual aid call, but I think the complaint warranted some discussion like we’re having tonight, and we need to make sure that we trust you guys to kind of monitor that in the future, and I don’t think we need a written policy on that.” Cheboygan County has three ambulances available at all times, but the county is a large area, said Parrott. “I take a tanker and my guys and we help out,” said Parrott. “That’s just what we do.” The first responder being debated at the board meeting was not named. “He’s a very good man, and a very good medical first responder,” said Parrott.