A password, e-mail address and confirmation number are required. No smart alecks need bother. Ambulance backup Austin also filled me in on some new goings-on that address problems that have developed as the volunteer pool for fire companies has dwindled. Fire companies at Brandywine, Claymont and Talleyville soon will be experimenting with a roving ambulance system to provide a backup unit when another company's carrier is on a call. This second-call backup system has been successful in other parts of the country.
Ambulance calls far surpass fire engine dispatches in recent years.
The report will be part of the new Emergency Medical Services Oversight Council, created last year by House Bill 332. Meanwhile, in the What's Happening Elsewhere Department, Coral Springs, Fla., town commissioners last month voted to add 20 paid staff to its volunteer fire department to improve response times during peak hours. Which brings us to Delaware Auditor Tom Wagner's annual calculation of taxes saved through volunteer fire companies. Wagner's figures are millions too high. When purple is blue.