WINSLOW — Interim fire Chief Scott Bolduc said this week that he’s seeking authorization from town councilors to offer expanded patient transport services as a way to help relieve overburdened emergency medical services in central Maine.

Bolduc made a presentation at Monday’s Town Council meeting at which he proposed a yearlong trial of “interfacility transfers.” Under the plan, hospitals could request a Winslow ambulance to transport a patient in need of specialized care elsewhere in the state.

“Right now the hospitals are full to capacity,” Bolduc said. “We can free up beds.”

He said the expanded service would generate about $100,000 in annual revenue, covering any costs the venture would incur.

For nonemergency transportation, or “basic life support” services, Bolduc said the town could make $700 per transfer. For a higher level of medical monitoring, a transfer could bring in $1,000 to $2,500, depending on the level of care that’s needed and whether a paramedic has to be on board.

There are four different categories of transportation care, and Bolduc said Monday if the Fire Department provided all four then the town could earn nearly $109,000 in revenue.

Insurance companies and Medicare would pay Winslow for the cost of the transfers. “Without insurance, we can refuse the transfer,” Bolduc said.

The Fire Department has three ambulances, two of which are “fully stocked and ready to go” at the fire station. One of them, Winslow Medic 7-1, would be designated as the transfer vehicle.

The most common transfers, Bolduc anticipates, would be between MaineGeneral Medical Center in Waterville and MaineGeneral Health in Augusta. He expects to transport patients as far north as Bangor and as far south as Portland.

Bolduc said Tuesday “we’re not in the business of doing transfers. … Our main goal is to help the EMS system and hospitals.”

The transfers would be performed by off-duty firefighters who would decide if they wanted to come in for a three-hour shift at $35/hour.

Bolduc said it was his staff who brought up the idea for interfacility transfers. “From what I’ve heard from the guys,” he said, “they’re really excited to do this.”

Hospital patients need transfer services for a number of reasons. Most commonly, Bolduc said, is that a patient needs specialized treatment at a facility elsewhere. But many who need to be transported can wait “anywhere between two and six hours,” Bolduc said.

Councilor Joseph “Rocky” Gravel asked Monday whether Winslow fire personnel would transfer psychiatric patients, and Bolduc said they would.

The Fire Department would not be competing directly with private ambulance services like Delta Ambulance, Bolduc said. Fire departments in Albion, Clinton, Unity and Waterville already do this, and he said Winslow firefighters would ask a caller if Delta had first been contacted before agreeing to the transfer, as Delta is contracted with several area hospitals.

“We’re the last resort,” Bolduc said. “If Delta’s not available, we’ll take it.”

He proposed that the council approve a yearlong trial after which the town could evaluate how things are going based on crew morale and whether they’re able to cover most of the transfers asked of them.

Bolduc said Tuesday he anticipates receiving “several calls a day” for transfer services. He couldn’t say how many of those they’d be able to take on, as it’ll depend on staff availability and the type of transfer that’s requested.

The council is scheduled to take up the matter again at next month’s meeting.

Town Manager Erica LaCroix said Monday that officials are still reviewing the merits of any kind of expanded service. She, like Bolduc, said the effort is not motivated by money, but by the need for transfer services.

“We don’t mean to imply it’ll be a great source of revenue for the town,” LaCroix said. “It would merely be revenue to offset the cost of doing business.”

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