KFVS12 News & Weather Cape Girardeau, Carbondale, Poplar BluffWest Frankfort ambulance controversy heats up

West Frankfort ambulance controversy heats up

By Julia Bruck - bio | email

WEST FRANKFORT, Il (KFVS) -  It appears the controversy surrounding ambulance service in West Frankfort has taken a new turn.

Dozens packed Tuesday's city council meeting to show support for the West Frankfort Fire Department's ambulance service.  However, right now the city is not budging.  

"Our concern has always been for the safety of the citizens," Local Firefighters 2402 Union President Craig Lemmon said.

However, these days West Frankfort Fighters, like Lemmon, are not answering many 911 medical calls.  Instead Cardinal EMS is takes most of those.  

Police and Fire Commissioner Leon Sailliez says that change was only to be for a short time.

"All the meetings I was in on it was six months," Sailliez said.

Street Commissioner Frank Browning said, "It was never six months,"  

Lemmon says he did not know about that until Tuesday's city council meeting.

That is when an agreement came off the fax machine from Cardinal EMS after a request by commissioner Sailliez.  On it are just two signatures, Mayor Marion Presley and the President of Cardinal EMS.

Mayor Presley was not available for comment due to health issues.

Instead, Streets Commissioner Frank Browning answered our questions.

"We voted to let the mayor handle it," Browning said.  "I'm thinking it was in May," he added.

"It was never voted through the city council and nobody had even seen a contract," Sailliez explained.

Cardinal EMS was brought in to save the city dollars.  Sailliez says it has saved the city about 50 hours a month in overtime.

"The Fire department asked us to do this.  They asked us to take them (Cardinal EMS) in," Browning said.

"We never agreed to get rid of our ambulance ever.  We said we would go to a back up for 6-months until they got on their feet financially," Lemmon explained.  

The end of the 6-month period comes up next week.  

"They're paramedics we're not and they are more qualified to do the work.  They got the equipment to do the work," Browning said.

However, Lemmon said, "We've had four or five complaints and that's something we have taken for granted that we did.  If a call came in to the West Frankfort Fire Department we just went and did it."

Lemmon also says its part of their contract with the city to provide EMS services.

In May, the city council approved the West Frankfort Firefighters employment contract just days before the mayor signed a one-year agreement with Cardinal EMS.

City Attorney Mike Riva says due to the nature of the controversy and possible future litigation he is not able to make any comment at this time.

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