Gamble is new to borough EMS chief

PALMER — Acting borough emergency services director Bill Gamble will take the reins of the Mat-Su Borough Emergency Services Department, borough officials said.

Gamble, Chief of the West Lakes Fire Department since 2003, and an emergency responder since 1990, was appointed Wednesday to replace Emergency Services Director Dennis Brodigan who has resigned. The transition between names will happen April 20.

Brodigan’s resignation announcement came shortly before the announcement that three of the department’s top managers — deputy director for emergency services Clint Vardeman and chiefs Brian Wallace and Gene Wiseman — were placed on administrative leave, then terminated, over a union-related complaint and investigation.

Gamble continued his silence on that matter Thursday, but offered praise for Brodigan.

“More than anything, he taught me to be a little bit more thoughtful before I reacted to something,” he said.

Gamble said he will consider a department-wide re-organization in the first months of his tenure, though he said any changes would likely rely on the opinion of Vardeman’s replacement and a yet-to-be-named director of emergency services operations.

“One thing I want to do with EMS also is get away from having a split service where you have rural and core EMS,” he said. “It’s all one EMS service. Even though each area is unique and has its own challenges and sense of community and things like that, we’re still one EMS service, so I want to bring that back.”

However, the most important issue for the ambulance service is adding trained paramedics to the ranks to reduce the overtime load on the present responders, Gamble said.

“My plan right now is to try to get additional staffing into the ambulance service so that we can get the schedules back down to a normal workweek,” he said. “They need to have a normal work schedule. They need to have a fairly normal family life, if that’s possible for an emergency responder.”

The days have been a whirlwind of activity since he took over for Brodigan April 1, Gamble said. Most mornings start at 4 or 4:30 a.m. at the West Lakes Fire Department gym, he said. From there, the day is a tumble of new ideas and concepts. Days can last until 8 p.m. Gamble said he splits time between various firehouses and emergency services headquarters at the Cottonwood Public Safety Building.

“I’ve always been one who’s pretty much said what’s on my mind,” he said. “I want to be very direct with my boss and my manager and to the assembly. I will tell them some things they don’t want to hear. I’m not one to sugar-coat anything. How I convey that message to them without getting myself in trouble is something I’m just going to have to learn how to do.”

Contact Brian O’Connor at 352-2269, brian.oconnor@frontiersman.com, or on Twitter @reporterbriano.