Sparta Ambulance Squad Seeks Retirement Benefit Hike

The Sparta Township Council said last week it would study a request by the Sparta Ambulance Squad to increase the ways members qualify for retirement  benefits.

LOSAP, the Length of Service Award Program, is designed to provide a contribution to a retirement fund for volunteer emergency service members such as ambulance squad members or firefighters.

The board will take up the issue for a vote on April 9.

The awards are based on active participation in the squad’s activities, and can range from $100 to $1,150 annually per qualified member.

Squad Capt. Robert Shurgard said the squad was asking the council to consider expanding the types of qualifying activities beyond making service calls or being on duty at the squad building. The change would allow a small increase in the percentage of the annual award a member might qualify for.

The expansion would include serving on committees and other activities that are required by the ambulance squad, providing service at local school sporting events, public fairs, parades, road races and other such events, Shurgard said.

Councilman Jerry Murphy questioned the expansion, especially what he said was apparently a general expansion of eligibility.

Murphy and Councilman John Schon asked for more detailed and specific information about the changes, especially data that could provide the council answers to the amount of time spent on these activities and the numbers of members who participate.

Murphy was concerned about the intent of the expanded list of activities.

“This originally was designed to improve retention and attraction of members,” Murphy said.

Shurgard said the extensive amount of extra work required to manage the ambulance squad  puts strains on the ability of  members to participate. Besides making service calls, members serve on committees to plan and manage the service and maintain equipment, he said.

Resident Paul Johnson said the council should give full consideration to the request.

Johnson, who said he is one who always questions government spending, said the request is reasonable, given the amount of time squad members donate to their service.

In addition, he said, no sporting event in town would be allowed to take place unless an ambulance was present..

“No football game could be held without an ambulance,” Johnson said.

According to Johnson, squad members pay for their own training and education.

Most of all, he said, the township relies on their service, which they always deliver.

“They will always be there,” Johnson said.

In 2011, the squad handled 1,295 calls.

Last November, in response to the need for better dayside coverage, two part-time paid emergency medical personnel were hired.

The change increased the number of calls the squad was able to respond to, Shurgard told the council earlier this year,

Shugard said between Nov. 1 and Dec. 31 the local squad answered 260 calls, of which 172 were daytime calls.

That represented a 20 percent increase in the number of calls that the local squad handled, he said. At that pace, the local squad would answer 1,560 calls this year, he said.