Crowley fire chief warns EMS surge could force costly PSAP requirement; asks ambulance partners to limit non-life-threatening calls

Crowley Fire Chief Lewis Merrill told the council that the city’s fire department is responding to an escalating number of emergency medical service calls and that the trend could require the city to establish a primary public-safety answering point (PSAP), an outcome he said could carry a running cost in excess of $1 million.

“If our calls stay like it is right now, we're looking at 760 to 770 calls on the projection we are right now. That means we need a PSAP,” Merrill said, noting a benchmark of 730 calls per year that triggers PSAP requirements and potential rating impacts. “A PSAP to staff it, you're looking at over a million dollars.”

Merrill described repeated days with high call volumes — including a day with 18 EMS calls — and said firefighters assisting ambulance services are sometimes so busy that their readiness for fire responses is affected. He asked Acadian Ambulance and other ambulance providers to limit fire-department responses to life‑threatening emergencies (cardiac arrest, breathing difficulty, seizures) and to reduce non-critical medical assists that currently tone out the fire department.

Nut graf: City fire leadership said the persistent rise in EMS calls, many of which are ambulance-service responses that also draw fire crews, threatens to push Crowley into a more expensive communications and staffing regime; chiefs and the mayor are meeting ambulance partners to seek operational changes.

Additional items: Merrill also reported maintenance and capital pressures: an engine repair costing about $9,000 and a multi-year lead time for replacement apparatus — five trucks remain on a vendor queue of 36–40 months. The chief asked the council to consider long-term budget options to avoid gaps in frontline capacity.

Next steps: Merrill said he and parish fire chiefs are meeting ambulance providers and will report back. He urged the council to consider funding options for apparatus replacement if the call volume trend continues.