Borough outgrows its emergency responder system

For a long time at this newspaper we have wondered about the sustainability of the system the Mat-Su Borough employs for compensating its firefighters and emergency medical technicians.

People doing full-time work — sometimes topping even the 40 hours most full-time hourly employees work — are paid like they are still classified as “on-call employees.” They make fast-food wages and don’t get retirement benefits.

How long can we continue to ask people to put themselves in danger to save our neighbors for such paltry pay? We asked ourselves this question, but the answer may have already arrived. The state seems poised to force the issue for the borough.

And we’re glad for it.

In case you missed the story in Tuesday’s Frontiersman, here’s a quick recap — the state has told the borough that it cannot continue to allow emergency responders to work more than 30 hours a week without offering those responders a chance to participate in the Public Employee Retirement System. The borough has, in reaction to that, capped responders’ hours at 30. Nobody involved truly seems to believe a 30-hour cap is the way forward. Not only will the borough get fewer hours out of those responders, there will be fewer responders to call upon during any emergency. The drop in income will force many to seek employment elsewhere, and that employment could prevent them responding to calls.

Borough manager John Moosey seems to understand this. He has said that it is his intent in crafting next year’s budget to add in more full-time positions for borough emergency services.

Is this the start of a transition from paid on-call to professional ambulance crews and fire departments? If it means firefighters and medics are treated as full-fledged employees with salaries and benefits, we certainly hope so.

We also hope this won’t be a one-size-fits-all fix that is rolled out borough-wide. Instead, we hope the borough will find a way to take into account the variety of communities within its borders. What works for Wasilla won’t necessarily be a good solution for communities such as Sutton or Talkeetna where call volumes are lower.

If transition is indeed in the offing, the borough must find a way to facilitate those changes while treating its responders with respect and inviting them to the table for open dialogue.

It won’t be any easy transition, but it need not be a rancorous one.