An investigation into the ‘abuse of the system’ by an elderly couple in Virginia Beach, has prompted city leaders to make some changes.

Shirley Niemiec calls her local fire dept on a daily basis. She and her husband live about 1.8 miles away from Fire Station 19, and have called them 1,100 times for help in the past three years. Niemiec says she wants to be able to keep her husband home because he just needs help getting in and out of bed.

The Niemiec story is putting a spotlight on a growing problem that many departments are facing especially with more and more baby boomers aging. Too many people are calling firefighters for non-emergencies.

City leaders are trying to come up with a solution for people like the Niemiecs, who are not eligible for social services, but can’t afford private home healthcare.

“Unfortunately the numbers of these assists are becoming extraordinary so we are looking at putting policies into effect that will assist as best we can to find them other assistance to help them at home to do non-emergency care of those citizens,” City Manager Dave Hansen said.

Hansen says they are trying to restrict the number of ‘lift assist’ calls and are putting resources together in the community that can help people in these types of situations.

WTKR looked at the mileage alone that fire trucks had to drive over the last several years in the Virginia Beach case, and found that it would be like driving from Virginia to California to Colorado.

It’s tough to estimate the exact amount that taxpayers are shelling out for this, but it’s probably somewhere between, $275,000-$500,000 –officials guess.

The Virginia Beach District Chief says it costs about $65 per call when you just look at fuel costs and the firefighter’s salary.

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