The Cranberry Eagle
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 Article published February 13, 2013

Officials approve building
Cranberry EMS gets OK on $1.6M for construction

Bob Schultz
Cranberry Eagle

CRANBERRY TWP — Supervisors Thursday evening gave the final go-ahead on a new Emergency Medical Services building by approving $1.6 million in construction contracts for the project.
The board also approved a service and lease agreement with Cranberry EMS, the township’s emergency medical service provider.
The new facility will be an 8,103-square-foot, two-story building that will include six ambulance bays. It also will have office space and living quarters, as well as a small recreation area for employees.
The following contracts were approved: $874,000 general construction to R. G. Glancy & Sons; $379,950 electrical contract to Fuellgraf Electrical Company; $174,500 plumbing contract to Shipley Brothers Construction; and $175,900 mechanical contract to D. & G. Mechanical.
The EMS service now operates out of a building on Thomson Park Drive that it leases from UPMC Passavant. Because that building has become insufficient, the township planned to build the new facility just north of the Cranberry Township Volunteer Fire Station on Route 19.
Calls answered last year increased 13 percent from the previous year as the Cranberry EMS responded to 3,464 calls. This year, Cranberry EMS officials project their call volume to increase at least 10 percent and call responses to increase to 3,828.
In response to call volume increases in recent years, the Cranberry EMS had employed a third ambulance crew to be on duty.
The Cranberry EMS currently has 37 clinical staff, including 13 full-time and 24 part-time employees of which 23 are paramedics and 14 are certified emergency medical technicians. There also are five volunteers that contributed more than 1,500 hours during the past year. It is a subscription-based service with an annual budget of about $1 million.
Jeff Schueler, Cranberry’s public safety director, told the supervisors last week the service agreement outlines performance expectations, and if Cranberry EMS fails to meet those requirements, the lease could be terminated.
The service agreement, Schueler said, specifies a 90-second response to calls, proper maintenance of all vehicles, a monthly report to Schueler, participation in community and educational events, attendance at a monthly public safety meeting with the township, an annual budget given to township officials and other provisions.
Cranberry EMS covers Cranberry Township, Seven Fields and parts of New Sewickley Township.