Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Public Safety topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Fire chief warns uncoordinated volunteer EMS response risks lives, urges Council to regulate non-911 services
Summary
University Heights Fire Chief Perko told City Council that Hatzalah Cleveland's parallel, non-911 volunteer dispatch has caused delays, communication gaps and unclear medical oversight; he urged residents to call 911 first and asked Council to pursue rules or licensing for non-911 EMS services.
Fire Chief Perko told City Council on June 16 that an uncoordinated volunteer emergency medical service operating outside the 911 system poses real operational and patient-safety risks for University Heights.
"Public safety must remain above politics," Perko said in an 11-minute executive summary, and he urged residents, "For any emergency, fire, medical, or police, always call 911 first." Perko described Hatzalah Cleveland's volunteer operation as a parallel dispatch pathway that, in his account, has produced delays in advanced life support and repeated communication breakdowns.
Perko cited an April 28 incident in which volunteers were contacted before 911 and said that advanced life-support crews arrived "far later than they could have been." He said the patient ultimately died and 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 stressed the factual distinction between the delayed response and definitive causation.
Perko outlined three operational concerns: (1) split-call communications and transfers that can delay dispatch and lead to missing information; (2) lack of a unified radio/command structure that can leave professional crews unaware of volunteer actions on scene; and (3) unclear medical oversight and protocols after Hatzalah's former medical director resigned. He said the absence of shared treatment protocols and a formal on-scene handoff increases risk and legal exposure.
"Any responder, volunteer or otherwise, must operate within [a unified command] structure and meet the same standards for the role they perform," Perko said, and he called for joint training, shared protocols and formal agreements to integrate volunteers without compromising patient care.
Council members pressed Perko on process and timing. Councilmember Winifred Weizer asked Perko to be careful about implying causation between the April 28 delay and the patient's death; Perko re-read his wording into the record and emphasized he had not claimed definitive causation. Councilmember Sheri Sax and others acknowledged the value of volunteerism while reiterating that 911 should be the first call.
Mayor Brennan and several councilmembers said they expected Perko's full report later in the week. Perko asked for Council support for legislation to "regulate and contemplate licensing all non-9-1-1 EMS services within our city" and said the department and neighboring cities had begun outreach to seek protocols and dispatch agreements.
No formal vote or ordinance was taken at the June 16 meeting; Perko said he would deliver a comprehensive report to Council and offered to discuss details in executive session if necessary. The chief's recommendations included: requiring non-911 EMS services to integrate with regional dispatch, establishing written medical oversight and treatment protocols, and creating a formal patient-handoff procedure for volunteers and professional crews.
What happens next: Chief Perko will provide his full report to Council this week. Council members signaled interest in a safety-committee meeting to examine the report and determine whether a legislative or regulatory response is warranted.
