Paterson handling ambulance calls for Little Falls and North Haledon
By Jayed Rahman
Published: December 5, 2017
The city has entered into shared services agreements with both Little Falls and North Haledon to handle their ambulance calls, according to municipal records.
Municipal officials approved agreements with both Passaic County towns in late November. Under the agreement, the Paterson Fire Department will handle emergency medical and fire service calls at “no expense” to either towns.
However, the city will bill patients through its customary ambulance billing procedure, according to municipal documents.
A report in the Bergen Record states the city’s Temple Street firehouse will service North Haledon from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. seven days a week. It’s not clear whether Little Falls is being serviced during the same hours.
Fire chief Michael Postorino did not respond to a call for comment on Monday.
The Bergen Record report states Paterson has been handling the ambulance calls since late October. Paterson’s council did not approve the agreements until late last month.
Both agreements run for five years. All sides have the power to terminate within 60 days by issuing a written notice.
The city’s fire department added several new ambulances this year in anticipation of the shared services agreements to ensure response time for residents does not suffer.
Both North Haledon and Little Falls suffer from shortage of volunteers for their ambulance squads. This led to severely delayed response time for residents which prompted the shared services agreements with Paterson.
The city has similar agreements with Prospect Park and Haledon.
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