HEROIN OD MEDIC UNIT SHUT DOWN

New Castle County Blames Lack Of Funds For Deactivation

An extra New Castle County paramedic unit put together in May to help
with a spate of heroin overdose calls was deactivated this week
because there isn't enough money to pay for it.

Public Safety Director Guy Sapp said it would have cost $100,000 to
run Medic 9 for six months because it was paid for mainly with overtime.

"Given the current situation in the budget, we cannot continue to
staff Medic 9," Sapp said.Advertisement

The unit was not dedicated solely to heroin calls. It operated from 8
a.m. to 6 p.m. to ease the workload on the county's other eight
paramedic units, which were dealing with a spike in calls.

Medic 9 stopped Sunday.

The decision has drawn questions and criticism from County Council
members and the city of Newark, where the unit was based.

"If you've got to take money away from bark parks, screw it," County
Councilman Timothy Sheldon said. "The real thing is saving lives."

County paramedics and police agencies have said a purer-than-usual
batch of heroin -- as well as some laced with fentanyl -- hit the
streets in late April, spawning an increase in traffic accidents,
overdoses and deaths.

Nine deaths have been linked to the drug in the past several months,
including two last weekend. However, officials said heroin-related
calls are on the decline, except during weekends.

"This is adding stress to an already stressful situation for Newark
residents," said Jon Townley, chief of Aetna Hose, Hook & Ladder
Company, which housed Medic 9.

Medic 9 responded to 135 calls in June. That was a few more than the
128 calls handled in same month by the 24-hour unit in Middletown,
which typically has the lowest call volume in the county.

But Townley said Medic 9 helped improve emergency response times for
Newark because the two closest paramedic stations are in Glasgow and
along Kirkwood Highway.

Townley appealed Monday to the Newark City Council for help keeping
the unit. Newark Councilman Jerry Clifton said the issue was "a
matter of public safety" and directed the city manager to send a
letter to the county asking them to continue funding Medic 9.

Newark's concerns were echoed this week by several County Council
members who were unaware the extra unit existed.

A temporary unit

Councilman David Tackett and Councilwoman Karen Venezky admonished
Sapp for not letting them know about the unit or its deactivation.

"If I had walked into a civic meeting and been asked about this,"
Tackett said. "I wouldn't have been able to answer their questions."

County Paramedic Chief Lawrence Tan said Medic 9 was never intended
to be permanent.

"The department has had a longstanding plan to expand the number of
units out in the field," Tan said, citing a University of Delaware
study that is examining staffing levels.

"But with the county's budget process, everyone was asked to tighten
their belts," he said. "If we want to keep a unit up and make that
commitment, then additional funding is going to have to be made
available to cover that unit."

The county is grappling with a growing deficit that is expected to
reach $38 million by 2009.

Sapp said the unit was paid for through overtime because the force is
short 28 paramedics.

Seventeen are on the payroll but still in training. Nine of those 17
are expected to graduate by August, and the rest will graduate next year.

Of the remaining vacancies, one paramedic is out with an injury,
another is pregnant and nine are unfilled positions.

"We just don't have the people," Sapp said.