Nonemergency calls to 911 in Bel Air alone have wasted about $250,000 in Harford County tax dollars just during the first three months of this year, according to figures provided by fire and emergency medical services officials.
Every time an ambulance is called into service in Bel Air, it costs Harford taxpayers about $220, said Rich Gardiner, a spokesman for the Harford County Volunteer Fire and
EMS Association.
Gardiner and Dottie Arnold, president of the Harford County EMS Foundation, say that approximately 70 percent of all calls that come into the Harford County 911 Center are for what they term nonemergencies.
Based on 1,598 EMS calls for EMS service between Jan. 1 and March 31 from the Bel Air Volunteer Fire Company ? one of the busiest EMS providers in the county ? this equates to approximately $246,180 that are wasted on approximately 1,119 nonemergency calls.
Seventy percent of the county?s EMS calls fit into the category of complaints that can be better handled by a family doctor. Calls are coming from people suffering with the flu, requiring a visit to the emergency room to obtain antibiotics for a bladder infection, or other similar ailments.
As a result, Harford?s EMS companies have been forced to bring in paid providers to alleviate some of the burden on the volunteer service. That began in late 2004 and has been growing.
“It?s a never-ending cycle,” Gardiner said, regarding the strain nonemergency calls have placed on Harford?s volunteers. “We need to educate the public as to when to call 911,” he said.
If all 34 of the Harford County EMS Foundation?s part-time paid EMS responders worked 20-hour weeks this year, Harford?s taxpayers would be indirectly paying ? through volunteer EMS payrolls ? $636,480.
If EMS calls out of Bel Air remain consistent through the rest of the year, the agency will respond to 6,392 calls this year.
This would equate to $984,000 wasted on nonemergency calls.
