Pennsylvania Ambulance tells Scranton council it meets response-time norms, offers to contract

Pennsylvania Ambulance leaders told Scranton City Council members at a caucus meeting that the company's average emergency medical response time in the city is about 7 to 8 minutes and that a separate report claiming an 18-minute total response time is incorrect.

The presentation, led by a physician identified in the transcript as Dr. Bernetti, disputed figures attributed to Fitch and Associates and said the Lackawanna County 911 center's dispatch data show median response times between about 6 minutes 21 seconds and 7 minutes for 2022'2024 (through July 1, 2024). "We would be happy to sit down with you and whatever cadence you would like and show you what our staffing patterns are, what our response times are," Dr. Bernetti told council members.

Why it matters: Council members said they have considered whether the city should operate its own ambulance service and raised cost and staffing concerns. Creating a municipal ambulance service, council members observed, would require multiple ambulances, 24-hour staffing across shifts, upfront vehicle purchases and ongoing…