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Fire chief warns uncoordinated volunteer EMS response risks lives, urges 911-first policy
Summary
University Heights Fire Chief Perko told the City Council that volunteer EMS operations by Hatzalah Cleveland have created delays, communication gaps and unclear medical oversight; he urged residents to call 911 first and asked council to consider legislation and formal agreements to integrate volunteer responders into the 911 system.
Fire Chief Perko told the University Heights City Council on June 16 that operational problems from a volunteer ambulance service operating in the city have produced “delays in advanced care” and a risk to public safety.
Perko said volunteers from Hatzalah Cleveland began operations in the city in January and that incidents since then, including one on April 28, show the risk of a parallel, non-911 dispatch process. “In one recent tragedy on April 28 of this year, a person called Hatzalah’s number instead of 911 … volunteers arrived almost two hours later and only then was 911 finally contacted,” Perko said. He added, “We cannot say for certain that a faster 911 call would have changed the outcome, but the delay in activating 911 meant advanced life support was initiated far later than it could have been.”
Perko described several recurring operational problems: split-dispatch that delays paramedic-level care, fragmented radio communications that leave responders unaware of others’ actions, no formal on-scene patient handoffs from volunteers to the city’s paramedics, and unclear or missing medical oversight for volunteer protocols. “Our crews document every patient contact and answer to our medical director for every intervention,” Perko said. “Operating without unified medical oversight or standardized protocols is a risk to patient safety and a legal liability for everyone involved.”
Perko emphasized the difference between levels of training: University Heights’ firefighter-paramedics, he said, complete extensive training and can provide advanced life support interventions that basic volunteer EMTs are not authorized to perform. He told the council that calling 911 connects callers immediately with dispatch, automated location, and integrated radio channels, while calling a volunteer hotline can introduce relay steps and information loss.
Perko said the department has reached out to neighboring cities and to Hatzalah to pursue “protocols and dispatch agreements” and asked the council to support drafting local legislation to regulate non-911 EMS services operating in the city. He told residents: “For any emergency, fire, medical, police, always call 911. Volunteer services, if used, should only ever be a supplement to 911, not a substitute.”
Council members asked procedural questions during the discussion: some members urged that Perko could have brought details earlier to the standing safety committee, while others said the chief’s presentation warranted a committee meeting or an executive session to review personnel or operational records. Perko said he would provide a full comprehensive report to council later in the week and offered to return to committee or to executive session if members wanted further detail.
The chief did not request a specific vote at the June 16 meeting; his presentation was an executive summary and a call for council support to pursue formal agreements and possible legislation to integrate volunteer responders with the 911 system.
