SAYREVILLE – Officials in Sayreville are taking action for the borough to obtain further emergency medical services.
On Feb. 25, the Borough Council passed a resolution authorizing Business Administrator Dan Frankel to advertise for the receipt of proposals for emergency medical services in Sayreville.
Prior to the council’s vote, Council President Daniel Buchanan asked if Frankel would advertise for the receipt of the proposals after officials meet with the emergency medical service providers, which was confirmed by Borough Clerk Theresa Farbaniec. Therefore, the proposals will not be advertised until the meeting between borough officials and the groups providing emergency medical services takes place, which Buchanan said will be scheduled by Frankel.
The council’s action follows concerns about understaffing and response times in the volunteer Sayreville Emergency Squad that were raised by Andrew Fedorka of neighboring municipality South Amboy at a Jan. 28 meeting.
Fedorka informed members of the governing body that at his mother-in-law’s house, his daughter started choking and while police officers responded to his call, an ambulance did not.
An emergency medical technician himself, Fedorka said, “I’ve been doing this for 10 years, but it hurts knowing that I have no equipment and I’m expecting an ambulance to show up with equipment I can use and may need. As far I know, the closest unit that they could get was in Rahway.
“I have medical training and so I knew what I was doing, but I still drove my daughter to the hospital, not getting an ambulance,” he said. “This is something major. These are people’s lives.”
Fedorka confirmed that his daughter recovered after two nights in the hospital when asked by Councilwoman Victoria Kilpatrick.
In response to Fedorka’s concerns, Frankel stated that officials have been aware of recruitment issues in the Sayreville Emergency Squad for the past three months and was moving towards requests for proposals for further emergency personnel, as well as speaking with nearby paid services.
“I am sorry it happened to your daughter, we’re sorry for any of that that’s happened,” Frankel said. “It’s unacceptable and we know that.”
With the council’s action at the Feb. 25 meeting, officials are moving closer to potentially obtaining the services of another emergency medical provider.