Expert testifies Aetna can meet Wethersfield needs but flags mutual‑aid, contract limits and ownership questions

An expert witness testified on Jan. 14 that Aetna Ambulance could meet the Town of Wethersfield’s emergency medical needs if the town’s plan is approved, but he urged regional deployment planning, noted limits in the town–Aetna contract, and acknowledged he had not reviewed Aetna’s financials or some recent ownership disclosures.

The hearing before Hearing Officer Hanstead focused on competing proposals to be the town’s primary service area responder (PSAR). EMS consultant Michael Gunderson (identified in the hearing as an expert witness) told counsel he “would disagree. I still think there’s a need for, for, a complex deployment plan,” saying a plan should account for mutual aid and the town’s place in a contiguous metropolitan area rather than treating Wethersfield as an island.

Gunderson said the town’s demographic sheet showed roughly 27,000–28,000 residents and about 12 square miles of land; call volume for emergency medical service (EMS) responses was described in the record as roughly 3,500–4,500 calls per year. Gunderson told the panel that those figures, combined with frequent mutual‑aid needs, support using a deployment model that looks at regional resource availability rather than only the town’s two routinely staffed ambulances.

On contract enforcement,…