Ambulance committee recommends renewing Armstrong contract

Waltham’s Ambulance Committee this week voted to recommend to the mayor that the city continue contracting with Armstrong Ambulance, the company that has been providing ambulance services to Waltham for the past five years.

The recommendation is to authorize a new three-year contract for Armstrong with an option to renew for an additional two years.

Waltham’s contract with Armstrong lapsed earlier this month, but the committee failed to get enough attendance at a previous Aug. 17 meeting to take a vote on the city’s next steps. This week, it lent its support to re-contracting with Armstrong. 

Waltham’s Ambulance Committee is made up of first responders from around the city including representatives from the Fire Department, Police Department, Emergency Services department and 911 Center — alongside citizen representatives and Dr. Bryan Canterbury of Newton-Wellesley Hospital, who serves as Armstrong’s emergency medical services supervisor for Waltham. Two Armstrong representatives also attended the meeting.

Overall, Fire Department representatives expressed satisfaction with the city’s Armstrong contract, saying it’s never had an issue with the standard of care provided by the company.

Fire Chief Andrew Mullin said the company has been consistently willing to revise details of its ambulance schedules and policies with working group members from his department based on the data Waltham collects about its emergency services needs. “Armstrong has been a true partner,” he said.

The city’s Purchasing Agent, Crystal Philpott, told committee members that the city would not have to go through its standard bid request process to draw up a new contract with Armstrong because state laws on government purchases offer exceptions for ambulance services. 

Through its new contract, Waltham would continue to have four dedicated units, three of which would have paramedics. It can also call for backup units from neighboring Arlington, Brighton and the Lahey Hospital and Medical Center.

Armstrong representatives also told committee members that it plans to move its base of operations from its current South Side location to a garage on Dale Street, near the fire and police departments’ Lexington Street headquarters. 

It will continue to post ambulances on the South and North Sides during peak transit hours to avoid traffic delays, but says this new more central location will help it better cover the city; in an email to the committee, Richard Raymond, Armstrong’s president, said ambulance response time in Waltham “needs to improve” and asserted this move would help.

Additionally, the Ambulance Committee:

• Confirmed that Armstrong had updated its ambulances radios and implemented a policy for drivers to check in with 911 dispatchers as they enter Waltham. Bill Ryan of the city’s 911 Center said his dispatchers had encountered a case where they were not informed of ambulances already within city boundaries, and as a result, requested ambulances from another municipality, delaying response times.
• Discussed a formal medical policy for firefighter rehab during multi-alarm fires, which refers to the medical rest firefighters require before re-entering a burning building. Mullin said that many of his firefighters resisted rest and refreshments, which is why the department wanted to formalize this policy. A second ambulance will now be required at the scene of multi-alarm fires to examine and monitor firefighters during rehab.
• Heard an announcement from Armstrong representatives that the organization had finalized a policy on handcuffing patients. Dr. Canterbury had requested a review.