NEWINGTON - A contract between Newington and its ambulance and paramedic services got a one-year extension, but there are still some issues to iron out approaching a Nov. 1 deadline.

       That was the sentiment expressed by Town Manager John Salomone at the Town Council’s June 23 meeting, during which the Council voted unanimously to suspend the rules regarding new agenda items and approve the one-year extension of the town’s agreement with American Medical Response (AMR) Connecticut, Inc. and Newington Emergency Management Services (NEMS).

       The last contract was set to expire on June 30, but AMR and NEMS are in the midst of talks regarding a restructuring of that would see NEMS take full control of emergency medical response in Newington.

       â€�"We’re extending it because there’s still some work to be done between AMR and NEMS so that we have a satisfactory transition,” Salomone said. â€�"If we don’t extend it, the question becomes, do we have AMR at all? It’s important to the town because it’s our primary medical response.”

       NEMS, which has been with AMR for around 15 years, has always envisioned expanding to full coverage, said NEMS Assistant Chief Laura Bramucci. They currently cover Monday through Friday, from 6 p.m. to 6 a.m., while AMR takes 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. NEMS is on duty for 24 hours on weekends and major holidays.

       NEMS is currently staffed by volunteers.

       The extension does not change any of the conditions in the current agreement, but the town does want to address the issue of response times. The AMR/NEMS partnership have a reported $50,000 in outstanding fees for incidents in which they did not meet the contract’s mandated 9 minute emergency or 15-minute non-emergency response times.

       A $250 fine is assessed for every incident in which a response time standard is not met.

       Councilors expressed concern regarding the response times. There were 200 incidents this year in which AMR/NEMS arrival exceeded a response time standard.

       But out of the average 3,800 calls they field every year, that’s around 5 percent.

       â€�"While the numbers say one thing, we’ve had no public complaint, and they have a great working relationship,” said Scott Woods, who chairs the town’s EMS Committee. â€�"A one-year extension just continues that relationship for the better interest of both parties and the community. Are there issues to be resolved? Yes.”

       The EMS Committee does not have any affiliation with AMR or NEMS.

       One issue is how to measure response times, Woods said. While the national standard is 8 minutes and 30 seconds, it’s not one size fits all, he said.

       â€�"The standards are changing on an area basis,” he said. â€�"You have to apply it to each community. If we were a rural community, that certainly couldn’t be applied.”

       It typically takes between 1 to 2 minutes for dispatch to receive and forward a call. The question is, should that be counted as part of the response time?

       â€�"The debate now, is, when do we start the clock,” Brammucci said.

       The town has until Nov. 1 to discuss the response time issue with AMR and NEMS. After that, it goes to nonbinding mediation, but Salomone said that he expects to reach an agreement on the matter before then.

       Salomone and other Council members noted that although there have not been issues with response times under previous contracts, the past year has seen questions in that regard arise. Before the current agreement, the response time standards were changed.

       At this time, none of the fees pertaining to late arrival times have been collected.