CARIBOU – City councilors on Monday evening approved the renewal of the air ambulance agreement the city maintains with Fresh Air LLC.
After some discussion, councilors voted unanimously to renew the contract.
Bill Belanger, manager of the company, gave a presentation on the service during the meeting and answered several questions from councilors.
Fresh Air LLC is funded by fees collected for the flights. Patients pay the ambulance service that takes them to the airport, and the flight service is paid by the ambulance service.
The company has agreements with Crown Ambulance in Presque Isle and the Caribou Fire and Ambulance Department.
As part of its renewed agreement with the city, the firm received permission to institute a rate increase so that it can upgrade one of its older airplanes.
In order to make the upgrade, Belanger said, fees would need to be raised 3 percent during the first year of the five-year contract and 1.5 percent each year for the remaining four years.
Making the upgrade will give the company two Cessna 421 airplanes, both of which will have the same capabilities, he said.
Belanger told councilors that when the air ambulance service began operating in 2000, it made 12 flights. Last year, it made 250 flights.
One of the benefits of the upgrade is that both planes will now feature a stretcher that makes it easier for paramedics to get a patient loaded without injuring themselves.
That change is crucial, according to Belanger, because several paramedics have suffered back injuries as a result of loading patients onto the model that does not have the more ergonomically correct stretcher.
Belanger said the increase will raise the cost of a flight to Bangor by about $85. At this point, a flight from Caribou to Bangor costs about $4,000.
The council had some discussion about the matter, however. Councilor Mark Goughan said that while he was not against the rate increase, he felt that councilors should have had more time to review the amendments to the contract.
He felt that the information should have been provided to the council in a workshop session before they voted on it.
“I’m not debating the rate increase,” he said. “But I feel this shouldn’t be rushed.”
Councilor Doug Morrell also said he was not against the rate increase, but added that he also felt a workshop should have been conducted.
City officials explained that contract negotiations have been going on for some time and were just recently completed.
“This decision has had a substantial amount of work put into it,” said City Manager Steven Buck. “The fee schedule is a moving target in the world of medical reimbursement. … There is constant negotiation. This contract is a constant living document.”
Mayor Miles Williams said that the difference in Fresh Air’s newer plane would be a plus.
“Mr. Belanger is trying to upgrade his service, and in my opinion he isn’t asking for much,” he said.
The group eventually voted unanimously to approve the contract.
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