EMS groups back transparency but warn statewide dashboard must reflect local benchmarks
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Summary
The Connecticut Ambulance Association supported a response-time transparency bill but urged the committee to design any public dashboard with local EMS plans, call-type distinctions and municipal benchmarks to avoid misleading comparisons. Witnesses said much of the data already exists electronically but that plans and response standards vary across municipalities.
Greg Allard, president of the Connecticut Ambulance Association, told the committee that the data needed for response-time transparency largely exist and meet NEMSIS standards, but he warned that a statewide dashboard risks misleading comparisons if it does not reflect local EMS planning and contractual benchmarks.
Allard said municipalities are supposed to adopt local EMS plans with response-time benchmarks, but compliance is inconsistent; he cited that fewer than half of municipalities have an up-to-date EMS plan on file. "If a statewide dashboard publishes average response times without reflecting each town's adopted standards, it risks creating misleading comparisons," Allard said, noting the need to distinguish call types (lights-and-sirens vs. nonemergency) and service levels.
Committee members discussed 'EMS deserts' and the potential to use more frequent reporting (monthly rather than annually) to identify regional weaknesses and target investments. Allard and members also discussed technology and the potential to aggregate vehicle-tracking data, but witnesses noted system heterogeneity and the need for a top-down strategy and stronger municipal compliance to make a reliable dashboard.
No formal action was taken; the committee acknowledged the potential benefits of transparency but asked EMS stakeholders and the Department of Public Health to collaborate on dashboard design, frequency and contextual metrics.