Elmhurst Fire Union Offer 'Too Good To Be True': Mayoral Hopeful

Elmhurst IL

25 March, 2021

10:47 AM

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ELMHURST, IL — The Elmhurst firefighters this week disputed the city's arguments that adding advanced life support to city fire rigs would cost millions of dollars. In a video, Steve Talaski, president of the Local 3541 firefighters union, proposed adding the service to the fire department. He said it would be a onetime cost to add equipment to fire trucks, estimated to be about $80,000. In response, one of the candidates for mayor in the April 6 election said the proposal sounds "too good to be true." For decades, the city's private ambulance service has provided advanced life support. But the union says it could serve as a back-up. Under city policy, fire crews already respond to emergency medical service calls. City officials, however, argue that if the city adds the new service to fire rigs, it would become a mandatory issue of bargaining with the union, citing the Illinois Substitutes Act. The long-term costs for a single firefighter paramedic would amount to $2.3 million over three decades, compared with $1.1 million for one with the private service, the officials say. But the city's number appears to assume that the firefighters would assume the role of the private ambulance service, Metro Paramedics, a subsidiary of Superior Ambulance. Talaski said that was not what the union was proposing. He said the union wants to have the ability to provide advanced life support for calls to which it already responds, not replace the private company. Four years ago, he noted, the city agreed to have Metro deploy an SUV, known as Rescue 1, with advanced life support to cover the entire town when ambulances are busy. That costs $166,000 a year, he said. "From an economic standpoint, that is counterintuitive to the city's goal of higher services and no additional tax burden," Talaski said. "The union's offer is paramedics on multiple rigs without any additional cost." He disagreed that the Substitutes Act would require the additional service become a mandatory area of bargaining. "The responsibilities are not being reassigned. We would be additional manpower that could perform tasks in emergencies when multiple ALS skills are needed to be accomplished at once. As long as union firefighters remain on the fire rigs and Metro Paramedics remain on the ambulance and Rescue 1, then the status quo remains the same and no one is substituted," Talaski said. Now, about a third of Elmhurst's firefighters are registered paramedics, Talaski said. As new hires replace retired firefighters, the number will eventually reach 100 percent, he said. "The union is proud to offer these services at no cost and will hold true to this promise through negotiations," Talaski said. The issue has become a major one in the mayoral campaign, in which aldermen Mark Mulliner, Michael Bram and Scott Levin are candidates. Mulliner and Levin oppose adding advanced life support to fire rigs, citing the costs. Bram favors the idea. Patch left messages with them Thursday, asking for their reaction to the 3½-minute video. Mulliner responded. "When I watch the firefighter union video statement, I can't help to think of the old line that if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is," Mulliner said in an email. "It's been well documented in committee hearings that shifting from our current contracted paramedics to fire department paramedics will cost an additional $2.3 million every year. That's an extra $2.3 million bill, payable to that Elmhurst taxpayers. It's also important to note that the bill will rise as the pension liability increases." He also said the fire department is rated in the top 1 percent nationwide and that Metro Paramedics holds numerous awards. "The implication that shifting from contracted to city paramedics will somehow improve that level of service has not been demonstrated by the union or anyone else," Mulliner said. Earlier this month, a City Council committee discussed the idea of adding advanced life support. During public input, Talaski made the case for adding the service. However, a city news release about the meeting excluded his statement, while including comments from the other side. The idea of adding the new service has drawn sharp comments from city officials. At the committee meeting, Mayor Steve Morley phoned in, calling the arguments for the idea "disingenuous" and "ludicrous." A few days later, Alderwoman Marti Deuter emailed a board member from the Annie LeGere Foundation who spoke in favor of advanced life support during public input. Deuter asked the board member to stop making false claims and "exploiting a tragedy." The foundation was formed in memory of Annie LeGere, a 13-year-old girl who died in 2015 after suffering a severe allergic reaction. LeGere's mother has criticized the city's response to the tragedy. For years, the foundation has offered to cover the costs of the advanced life support equipment on fire trucks.