American Legion Ambulance seeks license to provide routine BLS transfers from Plainfield ER

Chief William Jeffs, chief of service for American Legion Ambulance Fund Inc., asked the Department of Public Health on Jan. 15 for licensure and approval to charge for routine basic life support (BLS) scheduled patient transfers from Plainfield Emergency Care Center.

Jeffs told the hearing the organization is positioned to relieve transfer-related bottlenecks because Plainfield Emergency Care Center is a freestanding emergency department that cannot admit patients. "We can help alleviate any burdens on the EMS system by being available to provide routine scheduled transfers so other EMS providers can focus more on ALS scheduled transfers," Jeffs said. He said American Legion can deploy existing personnel, vehicles and resources immediately and is not requesting new ambulances.

The application and testimony say the organization currently operates three ambulances, maintains one staffed unit 24/7 and a secondary ambulance for overflow. Jeffs testified American Legion is based about two miles (roughly a six-minute drive) from Plainfield Emergency Care Center and about 17–19 miles (about 19 minutes) from Day Kimball Hospital in Putnam.

Counsel for the applicant, Attorney Jesse Langer, told the hearing the filing and supporting materials—including a recommendation from the Eastern Connecticut EMS Council and a support letter from Plainfield's first selectman—satisfy the factors listed in the department regulation cited in the record. "The regional EMS council also recommended approval stating that the approval would allow American Legion to enhance its service to the community," Langer said.

On methodology, Jeffs acknowledged the application did not include local, facility-provided statistics and instead used national percentages from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to estimate scheduled-transfer demand. The parties said they used a CDC-derived figure of about 15.5 percent applied to historical transport counts. Jeffs said American Legion averages roughly 1,000 transports annually to Plainfield and described the resulting projection—about 180 routine transfers annually—as "very conservative." The department ordered the CDC printout to be filed as a late exhibit for the record before it issues a decision.

The hearing officer took administrative notice, at counsel's request, of Public Acts 23-97 and 24-4 and agreed to enter the applicant's supplemental materials and prehearing testimony as exhibits. No final vote or decision was announced. Hearing Officer Hanstead said the record would remain open for the late CDC filing and that the department would close the record and issue a decision after that filing.

The department hearing focused on whether granting licensure and rate approval for routine scheduled BLS transfers would improve system capacity without degrading the applicant's primary PSAR obligations; Jeffs testified the proposed service would not reduce coverage because the organization already had the staff and vehicles for both PSAR duties and routine transfers. The decision remains pending while the department reviews the late-filed statistics.

Next step: the department will close the record after it receives the CDC data printout marked as late file number 1 and then issue a written decision on the application.