Delaware County(KYW Newsradio) — Officials in Delaware County ended their health disaster declaration, despite the fact that a number of hospitals there have closed over the last couple of years.
When Crozer Health left Delaware County last year, it not only meant hospital closures but also brought an end to its EMS services.
The loss of Crozer’s EMS forced the county to issue a disaster declaration.
Delaware County Emergency Services Interim Director Edward Beebe explained how the declaration impacted services.
“It allowed our 911 dispatchers to make timely decisions in a matter of seconds for EMS units to respond to emergencies, rather than using the municipality response table, which may dictate a different response. We would send the closest unit,” he shared.
He said the lack of paramedic services across the county led to a shift in resources away from local fire chiefs and municipalities.
“EMS units were hard to locate, hard to find, cause there just weren’t that many at our fingertips for response,” he said.
But the County Council said that ambulance coverage across the county is now intact and operational, which caused them to lift the disaster declaration.
“Most municipalities in Delaware County have contracted with EMS units. We are back to sufficient EMS units,” Beebe explained.
He said their big deficiency now is having a sufficient number of hospitals in the county to transfer people to, an issue officials are working to tackle.