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Select Board hears proposal to join Goffstown-led regional EMS study funded by rural health grant
Summary
A town official asked the board to join a Goffstown-led, grant-funded study to explore a regional EMS model for four towns; speakers emphasized the application would pay only for the study (not operations), participation would require little local cash up front, and board members raised governance, funding and staffing concerns.
A town official told the Select Board that Goffstown is offering to lead a grant-funded study—using rural health-care funds—to evaluate regionalizing EMS across several towns. The presenter emphasized the application pays for a study only and said "there is no cost to this for us" beyond staff time to provide community information; Goffstown would seek reimbursement from the grant if awarded.
Board members asked for detail on how a regional EMS would differ from existing mutual aid. The presenter said mutual aid is a ‘‘handshake agreement’’ with no guaranteed coverage, while the study would examine stand-alone regional EMS delivery models, station siting, dispatch, staffing, equipment, billing, governance and implementation steps. The presenter listed the study’s scope—stations, staffing, apparatus, dispatch, mutual/auto-aid, expenses, revenue, recruitment, training, billing and interoperability—and said implementation planning and resource mapping are part of the deliverable.
Several Select Board members flagged concerns: who would operate and govern a regional EMS, how equipment replacement and billing revenue would be handled, potential effects on local full-time firefighter positions, and the limited duration of some federal funding. The presenter said the application period closed July 31 and the study would be completed in September if funding is available; no final decision to regionalize operations was requested at this meeting.
