Three Island Towns Approve Agreement to Keep Tri-Boro First Aid Alive

Ambulances from Tri-Boro First Aid. (Photo: Tri-Boro First Aid Squad/Facebook)

After a round of bidding and a bit of wrangling behind the scenes, all three towns that are served by Tri-Boro First Aid will continue with the squad under a new agreement that keeps the storied service alive.

As of this week the three towns – Seaside Heights, Seaside Park and Berkeley Township – have all approved agreements to share the squad’s services and chip in their respective shares of the cost of its operations. Seaside Heights, the lead agency since it accounts for most of the calls, was first to approve the agreement, but also passed ordinances establishing a municipal squad – and the civil service titles that would go with it – as a “plan B” should negotiations have failed.

The fate of Tri-Boro’s building on J Street in Seaside Park remains unresolved, as Seaside Park borough was still considering some type of purchase for the building, but the squad will remain housed there, said Seaside Heights Mayor Anthony Vaz. Discussions of a purchase of the building, or Seaside Park reverting its municipal ownership, led the borough to hold off on a vote for a short amount of time, but the agreement as proposed was ultimately passed. Berkeley Township, which utilizes the least amount of services in its South Seaside Park neighborhood, also voted to enter into the shared services agreement, Vaz said.

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Tri-Boro’s multi-year proposal called for $4.2 million divided between the three communities, in which each would be charged a share of the $800,000 annual cost for the first three years, and $900,000 annually for the final two years, which would be optional. Seaside Park Mayor John Peterson said Seaside Park’s share of the cost would amount to approximately 23 percent, or $160,000 annually based on the $800,000 total. Seaside Heights will pay an approximately 70 percent share of the cost, while Berkeley will fill in the remainder.

Tri-Boro, which included a unique mix of paid EMTs and volunteers, communicated to the three towns last summer that it was experiencing financial difficulties due largely to low Medicare reimbursements as well as state-imposed limitations on how much each town could “donate” from its budget. Options at the time included dissolving Tri-Boro and forming a new full-time paid EMS squad or contracting with a private firm that would provide on-call EMTs. Ultimately, a third option emerged after Seaside Heights solicited proposals for EMS services: Tri-Boro would, itself, become that provider and be funded by the three towns. Ultimately, Tri-Boro was the sole organization to submit a bid.

The squad today has 43 paid, professional EMTs on staff and is expected to add personnel in the near future. Peterson said in addition to serving the three island towns, Tri-Boro also provides EMS service to Island Beach State Park for which it is not reimbursed. The park is located within Berkeley Township’s municipal borders. Peterson said he hoped the new agreement would spur an effort to appeal to the state for funding given the call volume that originates from the park. Tri-Boro also provides mutual aid to other island communities when they are in need.

Despite the agreement having been ratified by all three towns, Seaside Heights borough council members still voted in favor of creating the legal framework for its own squad last week.

“We kept it on the agenda because in the event, God forbid, that we should have a problem and Tri-Boro goes out of business, we have a plan in place and enacted,” said Vaz, adding that the borough learned from last summer’s experience and does not want to have to scramble to find EMS coverage in future years. “I hope it never happens, but we have it in place, and it’s a plan just in case.”