DENNISON (Tusco TV) - Village officials are asking township neighbors to help them back up Smith's Twin City ambulance after signing a new, three-year contract with the company.

Council President Greg DiDonato says owner Bob Smith was willing to extend his original three-year offer to Dennison, Tuscarawas, and surrounding townships after Uhrichsville signed on for an 18-month term. DiDonato says they’ll still be paying $1.75 more per person annually than their counterparts in the city but thought it was important to lock in the rate for as long as they could.

“We want the full that was proposed. We want to lock in the price. We want to know what we pay. It’s easier for us to budget, and secondly, all of us know ambulance prices are never going to go down so we want to make sure that we have that price,” DiDonato says.

DiDonato says the next issue will be making sure emergency calls don’t go unanswered when Smith’s medic is tied up, as the agreement only provides one shared ambulance for the entire region. He says the villages and townships are working on a plan to harness their collective resources since Uhrichsville announced plans to start charging its neighbors for backup.

“We have people trained, so how do we empower that for those scenarios? Dennison didn’t have any more than about 12 backup runs last year, one call a month…. My full-time are all trained so no matter what time of day or what day of the week, I have a guy who can go in an 
ambulance. He’d drive there and then be met with another person,” DiDonato says.

DiDonato says they’re also looking into the possibility of leasing a second ambulance from Smith or another company. He says the company could bill for the runs and the villages and townships would take care of staffing.

“It’s happening in other areas. We just need to understand that liability, the legalness and all that. We don’t want to be in the business of running the ambulance. We’re not interested in the billing but we would be willing to maybe provide the manpower to fill in that 
unusual circumstances to help back up,” DiDonato says.

Dennison approved their new contract with Smith Thursday, and the others are expected to sign off on the same agreement in the coming weeks.

TUSCO TV

DENNISON (Tusco TV) - Village officials are asking township neighbors to help them back up Smith's Twin City ambulance after signing a new, three-year contract with the company.

Council President Greg DiDonato says owner Bob Smith was willing to extend his original three-year offer to Dennison, Tuscarawas, and surrounding townships after Uhrichsville signed on for an 18-month term. DiDonato says they’ll still be paying $1.75 more per person annually than their counterparts in the city but thought it was important to lock in the rate for as long as they could.

“We want the full that was proposed. We want to lock in the price. We want to know what we pay. It’s easier for us to budget, and secondly, all of us know ambulance prices are never going to go down so we want to make sure that we have that price,” DiDonato says.

DiDonato says the next issue will be making sure emergency calls don’t go unanswered when Smith’s medic is tied up, as the agreement only provides one shared ambulance for the entire region. He says the villages and townships are working on a plan to harness their collective resources since Uhrichsville announced plans to start charging its neighbors for backup.

“We have people trained, so how do we empower that for those scenarios? Dennison didn’t have any more than about 12 backup runs last year, one call a month…. My full-time are all trained so no matter what time of day or what day of the week, I have a guy who can go in an 
ambulance. He’d drive there and then be met with another person,” DiDonato says.

DiDonato says they’re also looking into the possibility of leasing a second ambulance from Smith or another company. He says the company could bill for the runs and the villages and townships would take care of staffing.

“It’s happening in other areas. We just need to understand that liability, the legalness and all that. We don’t want to be in the business of running the ambulance. We’re not interested in the billing but we would be willing to maybe provide the manpower to fill in that 
unusual circumstances to help back up,” DiDonato says.

Dennison approved their new contract with Smith Thursday, and the others are expected to sign off on the same agreement in the coming weeks.

TUSCO TV