Bristol Twp. Releases Statement On Plan To Remove Bucks County Rescue Squad

Bristol Township’s manager cited “serious concerns over the administration” and a “bad situation” as the reason the municipality is considering removing the Bucks County Rescue Squad as the primary emergency medical provider for a large portion of the community.

While Township Manager Bill McCauley did not go into detail in a press release sent to LevittownNow.com and posted on social media, he said the township “had some serious concerns over the administration of the Bucks County Rescue Squad.” The statement further added the handling of the concerns by the rescue squad’s board allegedly “made a bad situation worse.”

“The administration attempted to discuss the issues with the board and was rebuffed by an agency that it provides significant funding,” McCauley said in a statement.

Sources close to the rescue squad and emergency service community have said the dispute between the Bristol Township-based Bucks County Rescue Squad and the township is a “personnel issue” that had to do with a disagreement relating an employee of the organization.

This news organization spoke to a township source who said the issue has been simmering for some time. Documents appear to show evidence of a dispute over financial matters and duties involving a member of the rescue squad’s leadership.

According to the ordinance that Council plans to vote on, the township is looking to assign the Levittown-Fairless Hills Rescue Squad to respond to the area currently covered by the Bucks County Rescue Squad.

The township said Monday that the Levittown-Fairless Hills Rescue Squad would take over July 1 and operate a substation out of the Third District Fire Company station on Harrison Street if the ordinance is approved by Council. A paramedic unit would be assigned to the location around the clock.

“Under the proposed plan the LFHRS Paramedic Unit would be the dispatched first to all calls in the southern part of the Township. The Bucks County Rescue Squad would be the second unit dispatched. The distance between the two stations is approximately a half mile,” officials wrote in the press release.

McCauley said in the statement that there would not be a difference in the level of service.

The township manager called the Bucks County Rescue Squad, which has operated for over 80 years, “financially distressed” and pointed to a 2014 $79,000 grant provided to keep the organization afloat. The grant was obtained by the township.

The township’s press release said the “Council and administration have a responsibility to safeguard and protect tax dollars.” McCauley said the plan is in the “best interest” of residents and the township.

Last week, numerous emergency responders and local government sources said eliminating the squad from its service area in Bristol Township would likely put it out of business or dramatically reduce the number of staff and ambulances.

Bristol Borough could be impacted by any change in the Bucks County Rescue Squad. The squad is the primary medical responder for the riverfront borough.

In recent years, the Bucks County Rescue Squad and others in the lower portion of the county have faced some financial challenges due to unpaid bills by patients, changing regulations, rising operations costs, and other factors, but they have remained able to stay open and provide service. Sources said things had been better in the past year or two. A merger between the Bucks County Rescue Squad and Levittown-Fairless Hills Rescue Squad had even been discussed in the past.

News of the plan to remove the Bucks County Rescue Squad came as a shock to many last week. However, sources had said the township and Levittown-Fairless Hills Rescue Squad administration had talked about the plan.

The Council will discuss the topic at their meeting on Thursday at 7 p.m. inside the Municipal Building.