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Fire chief proposes ordinance to bill non-emergency "lift assists" at commercial facilities
Summary
Fire leadership proposed an ordinance to deter commercial facilities from calling 911 for non-emergency lift assists when on-site staff could assist. The ordinance would levy an escalating per-incident fee (examples cited: initial incidents lower, repeated incidents higher) and include an appeals process; staff said similar language is used by other Indiana communities.
The Fire Chief proposed a narrowly tailored ordinance to allow the town to bill commercial facilities for certain non-emergency "lift-assist" calls that occupy emergency resources when no transport or injury is needed and the facility has medical staff on site. Chief Brent said the goal is deterrence: some facilities call 911 as a business practice rather than using contracted private EMS or on-site staff. "We have had 173 total calls for lift assists since January up until the middle of last week. 53 of those were to medical care facilities... totaling 31 percent of what we're looking at right now," the chief reported, and he described an escalating fee schedule with an appeals process.
Chief Brent and council members emphasized the ordinance is not intended to penalize single-family households; Indiana law limits billing for individual homes. The ordinance language mirrors other Indiana municipalities, and staff said they are researching third-party billing tools and appeal processes to ensure proper verification before any fee is charged.
