HATFIELD — Eight people have been transported to area hospitals and medical centers from Hatfield so far in August, with one patient waiting around 22 minutes for an Easthampton Fire Department ambulance to arrive.
While unusual for a person in Hatfield in need of medical attention to be served by Easthampton firefighter-paramedics, it has been a regular occurrence for mutual aid ambulances to be in town. In 2026, they have handled 92 of the 161 transports to hospitals, almost all covered by the usual backup provided by South County EMS and Northampton Fire.
To counter this dependence for a department that is not staffed around the clock, and causing an estimated $64,400 in lost revenue, Fire Chief Robert Flaherty, who is also Hadley’s full-time deputy chief and its interim fire chief, is calling for a renewed investment in the town department through what he calls a shared resources model.
Under the proposal brought to the Select Board Tuesday, Flaherty said there would be split, shared leadership for the Hatfield and Hadley departments, with Hatfield expected to add $250,000 to the fiscal year 2027 budget, which is around $500,000, so that two full-time staff are on duty around the clock.
“It kind of solves almost all the problems for fire and EMS … in a little nice package, with a relative amount of work,” Flaherty said.
The concept was brought by Flaherty to the board just minutes after Police Chief Michael Dekoschak talked about Hatfield and Whately sharing a police chief following his retirement at the end of the year.
Flaherty is concerned the town is not only losing revenue when mutual aid ambulances are in town, but since July 1 Hatfield is paying a $350 fee to South County EMS for each response.
Under the shared resources model, a full-time fire chief and full-time deputy chief would divide their time overseeing Hatfield and Hadley, and likely share some capital assets, such as administrative vehicles. Other staff would remain with their respective departments.
Even with the need to increase the budget, this would be less than the $450,000 to $480,000 voters rejected in 2025, and would be cheaper than joining South County EMS or hiring a private ambulance company that would need to be subsidized. At the command level, it adds another $10,000 to $12,000 in costs, but ensures three full-time staff are on duty during the daytime, making sure infrastructure and people are protected and town ambulances could meet the four-minute responses.
Such an arrangement can be done with a memorandum of agreement, rather than a full merger, and each town would remain financially independent.
“We’re just dwindling in our numbers and if we don’t have staff, we don’t have enough call people to handle these calls,” Flaherty said.
“That’s unfortunately where we’re at right now,” Flaherty said.
Select Board members supported discussing the concept with officials in Hadley.
“It doesn’t hurt to have some discussions because we’re sort out of options, we’ve been out of options for a while now,” said member Ed Jaworski.
“It puts a Band-Aid on the situation, and it lends itself to a future conversation down the road to create a fire district, if needed,” Chairman Luke Longstreeth said.
Board member Julia Frisby said she feels this is more complicated than sharing a police chief and a more regional approach for fire and ambulance services might be better, involving more communities, including those on the west side of the Connecticut River.
But Flaherty said it would take time to create a fire district and there would be a need to file legislation.
Of the 224 EMS medical calls this year, 124 required mutual aid, which at 55% is what Flaherty termed “a very large percentage.” Since July 1, the town has paid out in fees and lost revenue totaling $24,150.
The numbers looked better in 2024, when the department responded to 487 medical calls, and needed mutual aid help for 127 of them.
Former Fire Chief William Belden said what he sees is a crisis, and Hatfield, with no full-time staff on overnight, can’t be considered a partner in mutual aid. “That’s not the way it’s supposed to work,” Belden said.
The person who had difficulty breathing waited close to 22 minutes for an Easthampton ambulance, much longer than the four minutes it would have taken an in-town, staffed ambulance to arrive.
“That’s a big difference,” Belden said. “If you’re having a heart attack, 20 (or) 25 minutes, you might as well call the undertaker.”
