Tosa Fire Chief Alarmed by Proposed County Cuts for Paramedics

Wauwatosa Fire Chief Rob Ugaste was a paramedic for 25 years of his firefighting career and knows the value of EMS – Emergency Medical Services.

A fire department gets far more medical calls than it does fire alarms, and each one of those calls presents a likelihood of saving someone in a life-threatening situation.

So it's no surprise that Ugaste is alarmed by Milwaukee County Executive Chris Abele's proposal to cut $3 million in support for paramedic service to municipalities.

Abele last week announced that he plans to end payments to local fire departments for paramedic service as part of his 2012 budget. Those subsidies to public safety have been in place since 1975.

The move is driven by a $55 million budget shortfall facing Milwaukee County. However, eliminating what Abele described as an "out-of-date" practice is not getting positive feedback from local fire officials and some county supervisors.

"What is would mean for us is $200,000 in annual funding that would go away," Ugaste said. "It means, from a budget standpoint, we would have to look at the service we provide and how to pay for it."

The timing is bad. The has already presented its budget plan for 2012, and while it made sacrifices to the city's own tight budget, it did not include Abele's proposed cuts.

"As we explained to the (Wauwatosa) Budget Committee, our estimates are conservative," Ugaste said. "They're based on the number of calls staying the same or going down.

"If calls were to go up, that would result in increasing the fee for services."

Abele's proposal throws a wrench into that already tenuous plan.

"If the money isn't there, it isn't there – but we would hate to lose positions," Ugaste said.

County Board criticism

It's no certainty that Abele's proposed cut will survive review and approval by the County Board, at any rate.

"Candidate Abele pledged to engage in partnerships and dialogues with local units of government to reduce costs and maintain the services our citizens expect," County Supervisor Joe Rice said in a statement. "County Executive Abele appears to be taking a contradictory approach to an arrangement with municipalities that has been in place since 1975." 

Abele said the cut is an effort to push for more consolidated services, which would save taxpayers money.

"The county faces a $55 million structural deficit, and I’m committed to introducing a budget without a deficit or a levy increase," he said. "I’m looking for ways to save Milwaukee County taxpayers money, including by reviewing discretionary spending and encouraging consolidation."

But Ugaste said that instead of simply slashing one piece of the pie, the current EMS system should be used as an example of an already successful consolidated effort.

"Milwaukee County could provide training while (firefighters) are on duty, because right now we're incurring overtime," Ugaste said, since Wauwatosa paramedics now must be paid to go to the county on non-duty hours for that training.

Abele is not planning to cut another $4.3 million the county spends to help fire departments with training, equipment and other infrastructure needs. However, those funds cannot be used to pay for personnel.

The $3 million cut is all from the portion of county funding for personnel, and Wauwatosa's $200,000 loss would have to come out of boots on the ground.

Milwaukee County Supervisor Mark Borkowski echoed the point made by Rice, that the current EMS program is a great example of consolidation – and he questioned Abele's ability to lead Milwaukee County.

"What planet is this man on?" Borkowski said, concerned not only about the cut but the timing, as Abele announced it shortly after the 10th anniversary of the 9/11 attack. "It’s frustrating that this county executive does not understand the needs of his constituents. He appears to be clueless and out of touch."

An alternative plan

Ugaste, who was hired from outside only earlier this year to lead Wauwatosa's fire protection, got his job in part because of his expertise in and commitment to increasing consolidation of services with other departments.

But his vision is incremental, not all at once.

"There are two components" in county funding, Ugaste said, the $3 million in EMS funding and the $4.5 million in "systems infrastructure."

"Why wouldn't you look at the whole?" Ugaste said. "Reduce costs for infrastructure. Provide training at the stations instead of us having to go to (the county).

"Is there a way that the hospitals that participate could assume part of the cost of EMS delivery? There's different ways to shift costs. In Illinois" – where Ugaste came from – "the hospitals pay a significant portion, because they profit from the treatment of the patients.

"We're not saying 'Don't look at ways to cut costs.' We're just saying, 'Don't blow everything up at once.'"