Public Safety
Stamford Paramedics Approved for Darien EMS-Post 53, with Housing on Post Road
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The Board of Selectmen on Tuesday approved a proposal to hire Stamford Emergency Medical Services (SEMS) as a provider of paramedics to Darien EMS-Post 53. First Selectman Jayme Stevenson said town officials are looking into housing the paramedics at the town-owned house the Darien Community Fund used to use, next to Old Town Hall Homes at 701 Post Road. At the board’s regular meeting on Tuesday, Stevenson proposed dispensing with the town going through a request for proposals in preparation for bids to provide the service. Having in-town paramedics, long a controversial proposal pushed by town resident Walter Casey and criticized by Darien Emergency Medical Services-Post 53 officials, was recommended earlier this year in a report by Illinois consultants McGrath Consulting Group, who were hired by the town. Dr. Douglas Gallo, medical director for both Stamford Emergency Medical Services and Darien EMS-Post 53, has said, according to the consultants, that in-town paramedics would provide “no clinical benefit over the existing paramedic arrangement, it would not be cost-effective, and infrequency of paramedic skill usage would result in skill deterioration.”
