Ridgewood Emergency Services Responds to Plan to Replace Per Diem EMS Program with Full Time Paid Firefighters

photo by Boyd Loving

February 18, 2021 

Dear members of the Village Council, 

Last night we learned of a plan to disband the Ridgewood per diem EMS program, a  program which has served the Village for over 30 years, via Chief Van Goor’s budget proposal to  the Council. This decision appears to be not just a budgetary measure, but a retaliatory attack  against Ridgewood Emergency Services and its EMTs. We feel you should be fully informed of  this matter, as this is not a decision which should be taken lightly. We want to make it very clear: 

we are not a failing department. We are being purposely dismantled for the benefit of the  Ridgewood Fire Department at the cost of caring for the residents of Ridgewood. 

In May of 2020, a decision was made to have the EMTs of Ridgewood Emergency Services  

respond from Ridgewood Fire headquarters to provide “oversight” after an issue where our only  employee for the day suffered a medical emergency. This decision to change where we worked  hurt our ability to do our jobs and serve the Village. We were no longer able to answer phones,  accept deliveries of medical supplies, or perform our duties to a department which has no full time  operational, administrative, or support staff. From the beginning of this change, we were treated  with disrespect by Chief Van Goor of the Ridgewood Fire Department and his administration. Our  treatment was unfair, and it seemed to be in an attempt to make us resign. Complaints were made  to Village management, which went unanswered, as harassment continued to increase. This  continued behavior led to our eventual decision to unionize and be represented by the United  Public Service Employees Union in an attempt to stop the harassment we suffered. 

Recently, Chief Van Goor decided to change how our shifts were scheduled. None of us  

felt that we could be scheduled fairly by Chief Van Goor or his appointees. A schedule for February  was provided based on past practice, which he rejected, instead bringing in full time career  firefighters. We have been informed that they have had firefighters in on overtime throughout the  month to cover these shifts at a much higher cost. Now we are learning that after the Village  was notified of our unionization, our positions are being eliminated. 

The budget meeting last night highlighted that Village Manager Mailander appears to be  

misinformed on how staffing of emergency vehicles within the Village must occur. We cannot  continue to roll the dice with Ridgewood residents’ lives and hope that we do not have multiple  medicals or fire calls at the same time. We cannot have personnel assigned to two vehicles at a  time. We have already been leaving fire apparatus at dangerously low staffing levels, with fire  apparatus going to calls with only a driver, or recently, not at all. Chief Van Goor states that the  Village currently has an Insurance Standards Organization Class 2 rating and that he hopes to  increase staffing to raise that to a Class 1 level, however staffing ambulances instead of fire  apparatus could instead negatively affect the Village’s ISO rating. 

This decision unfortunately does not come as a surprise. Out of the four municipalities in  

Bergen County which have paid career fire departments, Ridgewood is the highest paid with the  lowest call volume. In addition, Englewood, Hackensack, and Teaneck all have hospitals which 

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will be remaining in their communities for the foreseeable future to justify their existence. As it is,  the Ridgewood Fire Department has already been responding to types of calls which responses are  not necessary, including EMS responses, in what appears to be an attempt to justify their high  budget costs by increasing their reported call volume. Chief Van Goor stated during the budget  meeting that their department was responding to additional medicals, when in fact, medical calls  have decreased over several years – the Ridgewood Fire Department chose to respond to more  calls with no appreciable benefit. If firefighters are to be committed to the ambulance, this makes  them the highest paid EMTs within the state of New Jersey. 

Ask the firefighters of Ridgewood. They were hired as firefighters under the presumption  that they would be responding to fires, not medical calls. Handling these extra calls have left  ambulances or fire apparatus short staffed at times and does not coincide with the Chief’s report  that the changes have been “going well”, as he stated during the meeting. 

Ask the Paramedics from the area hospitals who respond to advanced medical  emergencies within the Village regarding the standards of care given to our patients by the  Ridgewood Fire Department EMTs compared to the EMTs of Ridgewood Emergency Services. 

Ask the other first responders within the Village about the level of service provided by  our EMTs and our willingness to provide competent, compassionate care. 

Ask other municipalities why the fire-based EMS model did not work. This is not new – Hackensack Fire Department and Englewood Fire Department have both tried to run EMS in the  past before abandoning the service due to increasing costs. 

While Chief Van Goor states that hiring more firefighters will be more cost effective in  their first years, these are positions which have salaries and benefits which increase to over  $100,000 a year for each firefighter hired – more than our entire per diem staff and Emergency  Services Chief’s salaries combined, and a third of our department’s entire budget. 

Ridgewood Emergency Services’ EMTs have served the Village faithfully throughout the  years, and more recently through a global pandemic. We have worked tirelessly to ensure the safety  of the residents of Ridgewood, and we believe that what is being proposed is not only reckless and  dangerous, but it will not be cost effective. We call upon you to investigate this matter further, to  speak with us, and allow us to show you the data on how this will not work. We call for our unfair  treatment to be addressed. We encourage you to do your own research on the subject, confident  that you will come to the same conclusions we have. Unfortunately, due to her son being a full  time, salaried firefighter of the Ridgewood Fire Department, we do not feel that Mayor Knudsen  can be impartial on these issues, and we call for her to recuse herself regarding these matters. We  look forward to meeting with you all, and genuinely hope that we can continue to serve the Village. 

Respectfully, 

Emergency Medical Technicians, Ridgewood Emergency Services

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