Streator’s new ambulance service is off to a good start. After a week Streator Fire Chief Gary Bird says ambulances have responded to sixty calls and have sent one person to St. Elizabeth’s Hospital in Ottawa. He also says the staff with American Medical Response have been very good to work with. City Manager David Plyman says the city council will vote next week on their intergovernmental agreements with Long Point, Allen Township, and the Reading Fire Protection District to provide ambulance service. He also says Reading still wants to have a referendum to create a tax levy. He says the district will pay $25,000 for the rest of this year. If the referendum fails, the fire protection district will be on it’s own.
He also says he thinks the agreements will benefit residents.
He says it will cost $450 per call. Mayor Tara Bedei also says some things that were brought to her attention were how many people in the Reading Township didn’t know that they wouldn’t get ambulance service without the agreement. She also says she’s been talking to people about why the city has hired American Medical Response for staffing the ambulances.