Release provided by Mount Laurel Township:
According to Mount Laurel Township, the township and the Mount Laurel Fire District have announced Shared Services Agreement For EMS chief position.
When a vacancy arose in the position of EMS Chief, Mount Laurel Township and the Mount Laurel Fire District decided that it would benefit the residents and taxpayers of the community to enter a shared services agreement where the Fire Chief would perform the role and duties of EMS Chief.
This experimental shared services agreement will allow the Township to gain insight, efficiencies and experiences from the well-run, well-organized Fire District.
“Benefiting from the Fire Department’s expertise could help reinvigorate the EMS volunteer corp and find ways to improve Mount Laurel’s already strong EMS response team,” said Township Manager Meredith Tomczyk.
Mount Laurel’s emergency medical services are provided through a combination of the full time, part-time, and volunteers EMTs. Similarly, the Mount Laurel Fire District staffs the Mount Laurel Fire Department through paid employees offset by a healthy and vibrant volunteer crew. The agencies hope that the Fire Chief’s leadership will help EMS mimic the Fire District’s successes in gaining and retaining volunteers and finding other efficiencies in the EMS organization to reduce overtime and other significant costs.
“We are truly excited about this new shared services agreement and look forward to tapping into the significant knowledge and success of the Fire District for the benefit of Mount Laurel,” said newly-sworn in Mayor Kareem Pritchett.
“Over the course of the next year, we will also look at other ways the two entities can work together to enhance our first responder systems, obtain grants and benefit our residents,” Mayor Pritchett concluded.
