Daleville council talks rescue squad

That Daleville needs a full time rescue squad is the consensus of the Daleville City Council.

How to achieve that was discussed at a council work session Aug. 1. “Minutes make a difference in someone living or dying,” said Daleville Mayor Jayme Stayton. “We need a faster emergency response.”

Stayton said that the Aug. 1 meeting was a good start towards dialogue about what emergency rescue service will be the best for the citizens. “The city of Daleville is growing and it is time for the city to have a full time rescue squad,” he said. “There are a couple of options that I’d like to put on the table to make this a full time operation with 24-hour a day service, seven days a week service.”

One way of achieving that is to out-source emergency rescue operations to a private company, Stayton said and Daleville City Attorney Henry Steagall said he had been researching the issue of a potential agreement with Enterprise Rescue Inc.

Steagall said he and the mayor had meetings with Enterprise Rescue. “It would be better if we just had local (providers) but as you are seeing everywhere, you just don’t have the number of volunteers you used to.”

Steagall said that the Daleville Rescue Squad has had some difficulty responding to calls in the last few months. “That is what has triggered these discussions,” he said.

Enterprise Rescue is an employee owned, non-profit service operating 24-hours a day, seven days a week. It is a private company and not run by the city of Enterprise, Steagall said. The company serves the cities of Enterprise, Level Plains and New Brockton.

The proposed contract with Enterprise Rescue Inc. would be $2,385 a month for two years, Steagall said.

“Another option is for the city of Daleville to take the rescue service and employee rescue paramedics as city employees,” Stayton said.

Daleville City Councilman Jimmy Monk, who is on the Daleville Rescue Board, and Daleville Department of Public Safety Assistant Chief David Grubbs, who supervises the emergency rescue volunteers, asked the council to consider incorporating the rescue squad into a city department and the personnel into city employees and presented the council with a written proposal of their plan.

“We can do it ourselves,” Monk said. “We can take care of our own.”