I would like to kow why when you have a service (Downeat EMS) that the the county uses and nobody has any problem with including Calais why in the world would the town try and and start their own ambulance service? This seams non-productive to the other area communities when you have a service to the people of Washington County that was working so well. I don't know what their trying to accomplish competing with Downeast EMS. I hope the remaining towns stay with Downeast so the rest of us can have a service we can count on. Shame on you Calais.

randy68 Why should Calais continue to fund the largest percentage of Downeast EMS when the largest cost is associated with servicing the outlying areas? The decision to try this on our own dosen't seem to be taken lightly and I don't beleive the intent is to compete with Downeast EMS. Competion tends to keep people honest anyway. I am glad to see Calais council be proactive and try to make this a viable service for Calais. Sometimes the best decision is not the most popular one.

Calais having their own service is one thing. Trying to undercut Downeast EMS is another. I think the council is doing the area outside Calais a great diservice by trying to go out and compete against their former provider. Downeast EMS is going to have a difficult time on it's own without Calais trying to steal their customers. Come on Calais City Council... do the right thing and get your service up and running without trying to ruin the ambulance service for the rest of the area!

stcroixvalley Remember what happened to Mcgoverns Ambulance when they had the monopoly on Ambulance service. I still say Calais is doing the correct thing even though its not popular with everyone.

GREED GREED GREED that is all it is they want all the money.

Calais1, If calais is going to make a go of it on their own then quit solicticing other towns. The only reason Calais thought they would save $$ is because they are so arrogant the assumed that everyone wold follow them. HAHA I can't wait till this backfires and the do gooders of calais are stuck with a higher tax rate.

To Calais1: What happened to McGovern Ambulance back in 1999 has absolutely nothing to do with this mess between DEEMS and the City of Calais.

The only common denominator is the crew who have remained faithful and strong throughout some of the most turbulent years of their careers. It's a small wonder any of them are still around after shifting from McGovern Ambulance to Meridian Mobile Health to Downeast EMS and now perhaps to Calais Fire & Rescue. Perhaps in another 5 yrs. or so, there'll be another new cat in town waiting to get a lick from the milk dish.

Calais1 I'm gonna say that lets see Calasi uses the service more than anybody else that would mean....ummm yes a higher cost for Calais, you use it you pay for it, as for the competion I recall that everyone was happy with the service that they received by Downeast including yes CALAIS. So why go out on your own $$$$$. I hope that Downeast inpliments a re-instatement fee for Calais when the cost are too high and you look to save money. It was a different story with competion when Baileyville wanted the third bridge, and thats where it should have been built anyway. You all cried to the governor.

again, as a taxpayer of calais i'm glad the council has it's own service to reduce the tax burden on me and the citizens. people being torked off with the switch and wanted only failure seems very childish. if downeast EMS opened the books openly when calais first requested info this never would have happened. oh well, only time will tell what happens to both identities.

Meh Calais just really wishes it was part of Canada is all. The always like to thumb their nose at the rest of Washington County. They're the "Fort Kent of the East" I guess.

First off, I agree with Calais pulling out of Downeast EMS. But I would prefer that they not start going after other towns until they have this service up and running and stable. Also, I do think it will hurt DEMS to go after other towns, regardless if "It's just business"... DEMS will need all of these other towns on board to keep the service running. Calais going out and trying to cut into that business at this point is just not right.

As far as the bridge goes... GSA has more to say about the placement of the bridge then the state does. The port of entry is Calais, and can not be redesignated without an act of Congress. Changing the port location is not as easy as you may thing. This happened in El Paso some time ago, where they wanted to relocate the commercial port northwest of the previous bridge. GSA stated no, and the new bridge was possition still in El Paso. Plus look at a map sometime, and see that this is really the the most logical location without either country having to construct extra miles of road. And the volume of traffic just isn't that high to really be concerned about. Sit out near the entrance of the industrial part sometimes, and count the cars... It's really not overly heavy compared to say the Brewer end of route 9...

stcroixvalley I still feel that competition is always in the best intrest of the majority and it tends to keep situations like happened with McGoverns from happening. I agree with you the crews are some of the best out there and we are lucky to have them.

randy68.. It really amazes me how these comments get off track. What dose the new bridge have to do with anything mentioned in the article???? And if Calais MAKES money off of this GREAT!!!! As a business it should be self sufficiant if all goes well. Yes Calais probably has a higher incedence of Ambulance usage, considering it has the highest population density this is no suprise, but anyone who lives in Calais is within five miles of the hospital anyway. Which is more costly a run in Calais or a run to Alexander??

MESAVALLEY, I assume you must be from away. Nuff said

Bigdog.. Yes this is about money. Any business is about turning a profit. If you don't like it move to Canada and get all the socialized medicine and ambulance rides you can handle

ironwolf56.....???????????????????

The timing confuses me. The economy just collapsed, and the biggest employer in this end of the county is closing, laying off hundreds of people. Many of those laid off will be Calais taxpayers. Calais' population has been steadily declining for a century, to the point where soon, every summer, Eastport will be the biggest city in the county, thanks to a growing summer community.

I don't think CF&R will fail, but it will fail to generate the projected revenue,placing an increased tax burden on a population that is steadily shrinking, aging and struggling to get by.

Calais 1: Having a city entity... government owned entity competing with a non-profit corporation... How fair in business is that. And neither of these are for profit entities to begin with. So answer me this... what happens if you end up pulling on several of these towns, and DEMS collapses. Are you ready to step in and take over all the towns? Also, what have you accomplished... Give me a break about this being good business. If you want to run this as a break even service, then stick to keeping the service in Calais. If you try to lowball DEMS, and think that you will in the end make money... you are heading down a slippery slope.

To all the towns that are staying with DEEMS, this is something to think about, how many EMT's and paramedic's are going to be staying with DEEMS, without them, hmmmm, no ambulance service for you. I think if you check closely you will find most of the EMT's and paramedic's are leaving DEEMS and going with Calais. Just something to think about when you turn the Calais service down.

ralphmcdevitts how is it going to save the taxpayers money when it will cost over 400,000 to start on your own.Also when you are unable to fund your servive i hope DEEMS charges you 4 time as much to rejoin.

bigdog, something tells me you'll never be called business savy. this is business 101, ie startup cost. additionally the largest municipalities in the county will be at the end of the failure line. the resources are much larger then say perry

and "charges 4 times as much to rejoin"?? your no legal guru either i see.

stcroixvalley : I think the Calais council is giving these towns an alternative to DEEMS. Like I said before this is not a popular decision for everyone. If Calais wanted to go into "isolationism mode" and only service the city of Calais it would be alot cheaper than the current undertaking but that would leave no other alternative to other towns if DEEMS fails. This speaks volumes about the intentions of Calais when deciding to drop out of DEEMS. Even though you say both of these entities are non-profit both should be run as if they are a viable business with the goal of turning a profit. To many times "non-profit" is associated with meeting expectations and not exceeding them. Maybe that was part of the problem between DEEMS management and Calais?

Calais1 somebody trying to save a job.... won't be many when the mill closes and people have to leave by the droves.

Calais in my opinion has to separate it self from the other communities that are 20 or more miles away or they won't survive. Had we stayed just in Calais we would probably still be there. Of course there is personal failure and as one writter mentioned, GREED. However, we tried to bring Paramedic care to as much of Washington county as possible, always paying for our employee's training and paying them a fair and resonable wage with decent benefits. All of our problems were with the outlying communities and the distances involved in taking people places. How do you tell someone NO? You can't get an ambulance. You don't qualify.

I paid my dues, and we had an outstanding group of people. Please don't let my shortfalls reflect on them. I simply stopped caring and yes the money was great. I did wrong. Not them. I never said no. Now in order to provide the greater Calais area with emergency coverage the city has no choice but to streamline. I can't imagine any community paying me when I was there $1000.00 per month. Calais didn't want to pay the $12000 to $20000 I got per year in my years. There are many people still alive today because of us, many families touched. I still receive letters from folks from time to time we saved. McGovern Ambulance did good for a long time, we just got too big and were unable to do what we tried to do and there came a point where survival was all that mattered. You will be hard pressed to find anyone who complains about their care to this day, though the bills they complain about. I'd like to have a dollar back for every dollar I gave away and every person I forgave. You know who you are. You know if you were touched in any way.

The City of Calais is doing their best in a changing world to help it's citizen's receive the best level of EMS it can. I know the feeling. I tried and failed. They have to stand alone with only their closest communities, Robbinston, Baring, Alexander, Baileyville, Crawford, Charlotte etc., or they too will fail. Speak of me as you will my friends, but I bet each one of you to this day knows someone we saved, someone we consoled in their time of need, and regardless of it all, we all cared about you. We tried our best but we went to distant and to far and tried to give everyone we touched the best level of care available.

I have been back to Calais Fire to visit each year. I spent 19 plus years serving the community. It needs to be said, Calais has no choice and there is not enough money under current regulations to do it without community support. Give them CREDIT. They deserve it! In addition I wish Downeast EMS well. But rural EMS is a tough road, and ultimately lower levels of care will be all they can afford with spotty coverage at best. I hope not but you all know I know from experience.

Thank you to those of you who read this. By the way, we used to back up Baileyville for free, and their fine ambulance folks were always there when we called for help....anywhere.....anytime. Some of the finest volunteers I ever met came out of Baileyville. Many of them also worked for me part time. I owe them a lot or personal gratitude. I wish you all the best and hope you read carefully from someone who knows, rather you agree or not, the unfortunate state of EMS in Rural DownEast Maine.

Dana McGovern

Dana, that was a nice letter and the quality of care has not been the same since McGoverns was closed.......I personally know of many people that were down and out , and they were helped by your generosity and some you did not even know personally. You did serve your time and I wish you the best........you made a mistake, but your heart was in the right place the rest of the time. I wish you well in whatever you are doing now.

Dana...I am sure that you employed many fine individuals and provided a good level of care. I am also sure that many of those fine individuals went onto serve other services, maybe even Downeast EMS and possibly Calais Fire.

But the main reason McGovern's Ambulance failed was your own Greed. You were convicted of Medicare fraud and yes, you paid your dues but you can never work in any healthcare service which accepts Medicare assignments ever again. You are the second ambulance service/owner operator that I have known which has been convicted of Medicare fraud.

What happened in the 1990's to EMS care in Washington county is the direct result of your personal actions and your personal choices. Your service could still be operating today if it were not for your personal greed.

If I sound upset, I am. You violated the public trust with your actions. You put at risk the very people you claim to serve by your actions when your ambulance service failed.

Yes I did, I admit, but before you cast stones understand that we all fall short of what we are trying to achieve. I at least admit my shortcomings. You didn't identify yourself I see, and I had no choice but to do so throughout. I remain much humbled and much revised, and I assure you sir or maam, I only give my opinion as a person who knows rather you admit it or not. Greed is a sin I shall deal with and have far overcome. Thank you for your kind words. And your honesty. But you said no more than I said in my previous posting.

In the 1990's we went from waiting for someone to come in from thjere house to the base to respond to the call, to well paid personnel at the base ready to leave at that moment. Fine people worked many hours to do this and we paid them well. You can call me greedy all you want, but can't deny the many livesw saved. Had I been smarter and paid more attention we might still be there. I recognize my failures. Now it is time to speak my experience to others in hopes they will keep all in my hometown area safe. I SINCERELY thank you for your comments, and understand your feelings. I certainly learned where I went wrong, but second chances by most are never given. By the way, You have one fact wrong, In 8 years(total was 15) I can again come back and work in any healthcare field I wish. I only then wwill work as an unpaid volunteer. But your information on that is incorrect. Once again Thank you for your honest comments. As you can imagine I am sure I can take them, for the greater good I've done, and the mess I am responsible for do not change who I am now, my friend.

Dana...I am willing to admit that I may be mistaken regarding the life time ban. I am under the impression the the IG Exclusionary Rule is a life time thing for those involved in a paid service. I am also a firm believer that some (not all) people deserve a second chance (1st Degree murder, offenses involving children, etc...ummmm not so much).

I also read a level of remorse that I did not see in your first post. So, it seems that you have come a long way from where you fell. For that I am impressed as I am sure others will be also.

I sincerely wish you the best and hope you continue to deal with and overcome the demons which you describe. I am sure that a former employer of yours may be looking down on you, RIP MB EMT-P.

Thank you for recognizing that, who ever you are. It's funny you know. It starts out trying just to help the patinet with Medicare to get their bill paid. They don't understand the in's and out's of why they can or cannot get a covered or uncovered trip. Hell, back in 82 they told us to describe everything as "pain" as they wouldn't pay for anything but pain or real proven heart attack, stroke, trauma etc.

You obviously know your business. I appreciate your realization that I realize my mistakes. A lot changed between when I started in 1982 and when I ended in 2000. ( even did a run in an Oldsmobile ambulance once. Old enough to remember?) You are very gracious for listenening to me and understanding my honesty now. It might surprise you to realize that I felt before I realized I did wrong that I was the only one who understood the patient. A patient with general malaise who couldn't walk wasn't covered at the end. I even paid back for the charges for a call where a man had a doctor certified MI, but because he (and being and EMT-P like I was you know this happens) walked OUT to the ambulance, then he must not need one. I repaid many trips that an ALS (Lou Gehrigs Disease) patient who couldn't go without a respirator or being bagged anywhere. Not sour grapes, because we took stroke patients to doctor's appointments too, and those weren't paid. But what was the harm? The doctor saw them at the er or in their office in the hospital? Why shouldn't that be paid for? I deeply regret my mistakes, but at first I looked at it as helping out the patient. Then yes I refused to turn down anyone, I broke the rules and I paid and will pay for ever. Yes I did fall under that rule you cited but I had some real good epople on the government's side who agreed to a 15 year exclusion instead of lifetime. I went into many fires in Calais as an unpaid volunteer for many years and always felt good about helping others. You obviously knew me professionally or personally, and I thank you for the opportunity to speak my piece if only you and you alone read it. I have 2 EMS awards that I am proud of, and many EMS trained people that I trained that save lives still today. Yeah I made a difference, yeah I blew it, there is no pride left here except in letters from those still alive I saved, and many nights I lay awake crying for those I gave my all for and couldn't. Those were never the question here. Ask any one who knows me they will tell you of compassion, competence and endless hours spent on call and on calls. I am sure you your self would do the same and probably have. Your initials I can't figure out who you are but does not matter as long as you understand that I UNDERSTAND my mistakes were my own, and I understand that no matter how much good you do there is no mistake for even one wrong. I didn't then, I do now.

I used to look down upon most volunteers, and them me and just as some of the busier services back in the day looked down on me. We are all God's children, we can all be forgiven, and as soon as the USA allows me to practice the skills I am no longer licenced for but still able to perform, if they ever let me teach again, then and only then will I feel that I have even begun to pay it back. Money, who needs more than they need. I have 4 kids, 3 grandaughters and another about to be born next month. Life is good and yes I feel great remorse for my mistakes. If you ask the people that stood by me they will probably say something like, "he really cared, then it stopped paying attention". I always cared just somewhere along the way I got tired of all the government red tape and broke the rules. Rules are made for a reason. I broke them, I still pay. I DESERVE TO PAY!

I miss my old EMS friends, I only hear from 10 or 12 on a regular basis. I wasn't the only one to break the rules, but by example because I was so large, others learned. It might surprise you to know that several other Private Ambulance Service Owner's in the state of Maine were assessed damages, paid them in light of what happened to me, and went on.

I still remember all my patients, yup, every one. I miss EMS but am lucky enough to be given a chance managing another large company. And my friend, MB, EMT-P, I wish you the best and hope that in your travels you get to meet the many wonderful people I did in 19 years 10 months of service. Paid professional or not, I hope you do what I didn't and wish I had. Volunteer you medic skills in some little area once a month for 8 or 12 or 24 hours. This is the dream I have when I can treat patient's again on April 1, 2017. And may you never ever see the human attrocities that I have nor experience any of the pain that goes with it all. You need not tell me who you are and this will be my last posting to you. I THANK you honestly for listening, and rather you ever have good to say about me or not, it doesn't matter because those that TRULY know me KNWO MY HEART. Remember this. I ONLY WANTED TO HELP PEOPLE. I AM HUMAN. I MADE MISTAKES. But every minute of every day I LOVED what I did as we all do or else we wouldn't do it. Especially those who work for free. I worked for very little money for 10 years(8-12 thousond a year on call 24/7) Those were the best years but you have to have and lost sometimes to understand. I'm a better father, a better son, a granfather, a better person today. And my friend my compassion is back. My only exclusion is working for Medicare/Medicaid facilities. No one will hire me to teach, I've even offered to teach for free. That is my only regret.

If you wonder why I opened up my heart for the first time on the Bialeyville issue, it is because they helped me (their volunteer's) through the toughest time in my life. Jennie, Phylis, Jeannie, i know I am forgetting many names, Dr, McHugh, Fred Raynor, I had a night that my life changed forever and I started for the first time to understand the importance or people who did what I was doing at that time for about 80 a year and they did it for free. I wish I had listened to my heart instead of my wallet. Thank you again MB and Good night. From one PROUD Paramedic to another, God speed, stay safe and save as many as you can. You are in my prayers, whomever you are. The Serenity Prayer gets me through each day. I willingly stand and listen to anyone who talks to me, do not make excuses other that to try to explain where my head was then. It;s not there now MB, never will be again. But I have so much knowledge to offer to others, I look forward to the day I can stand in front of 500 medics, as I have done before at Samoset, and tell my story. Knowledge and understanding has saved me. I still want to save others.

Dana McGovern