Lisbon council hears concerns about EMS response time

LISBON – The Lisbon Village Council heard concerns from a resident about a slow response by emergency medical services during its regular meeting Tuesday.

Michael Cusick described his experience waiting approximately 28 minutes for an ambulance from Lifeteam to arrive at a residence in Lisbon earlier this month.

"Thank God the emergency wasn't more severe," Cusick said.

Lifeteam's station one is in Wellsville, which is about 28 minutes away by Google Maps, and station two is on St. Clair Avenue in East Liverpool, which is approximately 19 minutes away by Google Maps.

Christine Lerussi, founder of East Liverpool-based North Star Critical Care, which has a station on Morris Street in Lisbon, attended the meeting to explain how EMS works in Lisbon and in Columbiana County and ways to improve response time.

She recommended that people call the Lisbon Police Department dispatch direct, at 330-424-7810, in the event of an emergency because Lisbon does not officially have a primary EMS provider designated with Columbiana County 911.

"How the 911 system works is you dial 911. You're going to get Columbiana County 911. They will then dispatch your ambulance service to you in alphabetical order of the names of the companies that are available," Lerussi said.

Lisbon Mayor Peter Wilson asked the village council to consider approving sending a letter to Columbiana County 911 to designate North Star as the primary service, since they are the closest. Council will consider the letter at its next meeting in two weeks.

"Any calls that go through the 911 center in the Lisbon area, their primary ambulance service would be North Star since they're here," Wilson said.

"A lot of people having a heart attack or stroke, they're just dialing 911. Unless we designate somebody as our primary ambulance service, this could occur," Wilson said in reference to the long response time. "Twenty-eight minutes is unacceptable."

When called about a medical event, the Lisbon Police Department dispatch will immediately call North Star and send them out to the emergency call, Chief Mike Abraham said.

Police are always dispatched to a medical event as well, he added, to advise EMS of the situation and assist in any way possible. All Lisbon police cruisers are outfitted with an automated external defibrillator, or AED, that can help people experiencing sudden cardiac arrest, Abraham said.

North Star Critical Care is located on state Route 267 in East Liverpool, but has a station on Morris Street in Lisbon that is scheduled for coverage 24 hours a day, Lerussi said.

However, that does not mean there will be someone at the station all the time, since they may be out on an emergency call or transporting someone to the hospital.

Lerussi explained that if a driver has to transport someone to St. Elizabeth Health Center in Boardman, there may not be an ambulance on call in Lisbon at that moment.

"There will be times when there will be a delay with ambulance services," Lerussi said.

If there is not someone available through North Star, she said West Point EMS would then be called.

The average response time for EMS coming from the station on state Route 267 in East Liverpool to Lisbon is 9.7 minutes, Lerussi said. She said if someone is at the Lisbon station, the response time is one minute.

The Lisbon Village Council will next meet at 6:30 p.m. Feb. 27 at Lisbon village hall.