Three supervisors decided to drop an ambulance service for 446 residents of Forward Township because Quality EMS is going to charge $35 per year per household. They then state that in the near future these residents will mostly have to pay a tax to have EMS services, but they don’t want to deal with that now.

$35 a year seems reasonable and perhaps this is something that should have been placed on a ballot. It seems there could be more to this than what is being revealed. Butler and Harmony are fine services, but like all EMS services, they can be overwhelmed with calls from their current service area. To expand their areas places stress on them. Their response time to this area of Forward Township will not match that of Quality’s.

Most residents in this part of Forward Township use Passavant Hospital, AHN Wexford and Pittsburgh hospitals. Taking residents to these hospitals by Butler Ambulance expands the distance their ambulances have to travel, taking them further out of their service area.

You get what you pay for. I believe Forward Township is making a mistake by dropping Quality.

Kent Shoemaker,

Forward Township