Town nears ambulance upgrade after rollout date slipped

Acton residents will wait a little longer than expected for a town-run “advanced life support” ambulance service. 

Officials had hoped to launch the program in July. That was always a “moving goal,” Fire Chief Brian Whitney told The Acton Bridge. Now, the town is eyeing a September start.

“We want to make sure we do it right,” Whitney told the Select Board. 

Acton already has “basic life support” ambulances. The fire department’s first responders regularly handle medical calls but can’t perform certain procedures, such as starting IVs or performing electrocardiograms, then-Chief Thomas Judge told The Bridge in 2024.

Acton currently contracts for advanced services, but those ambulances often don’t respond as quickly, Judge said.

A nearly $1 million federal grant is helping train 14 employees as paramedics. Acton has also been recruiting new firefighter/paramedics to fill vacancies.

Bringing advanced capabilities in-house requires state approval. 

Although Acton was moving toward ALS, Whitney told the Select Board in May, “people might have been hesitant to jump into a system” that wasn’t ready for state licensure. That contributed to some hiring challenges, he said. 

The town formally sought its ALS license earlier this month, Town Manager Kerry Lafleur said, and Whitney said a recent recruiting round drew “a much better applicant pool” than past efforts.

Employees often prefer working for an ALS department because “they can utilize the full scope of their training,” Whitney told The Bridge. Paramedics need an ALS affiliation to keep their individual license, and firefighter/paramedics get paid more in an ALS role than for providing basic services. 

Officials hope for easier hiring and better staff retention with ALS in place, Whitney said.

Emergency call volumes have spiked in recent years. Select Board Chair Wendy Rovelli called advanced life support “a great enhancement to the services of our town.”

Training is ongoing, and several employees are expected to get their certifications this summer, Whitney told The Bridge.

The state’s review process can take three to four months, he has said, and that may also affect when Acton starts offering ALS.