Cleveland officials, paramedics union disagree on how policy shift is going

Two weeks after Cleveland cut back the number ambulances on the street and ordered paramedics to stop serving as a taxi service for people with minor ailments, city officials and the paramedics' union are at odds over how effective the changes have been.

Response times for critical calls have not increased, but the policy has been adjusted four times to keep the operation running smoothly, he said. Dispatchers sent ambulances on about 3,000 runs between Jan. 11 and Jan. 24 -- a drop of about 208 calls from 2009.

"It could be the luck of the draw," Eckart said about the fewer calls. "Overall, it's going well."

EMS union chief Stephen Palek disagreed.

Palek said the plan has not reduced the volume of calls. He stressed that the city should have given residents more warning about the changes to how calls are treated and not implemented them with fewer ambulances on the street.

Paramedics are getting burned out, he said.

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