SPANISH FORK -- A disagreement over who can respond quicker to traffic accidents near Soldier Summit on "killer highway" U.S. 6 may result in the city of Helper pulling out of a mutual aid agreement with Utah County.
Spanish Fork ambulance personnel, who have the Utah County contract, won't give up Soldier Summit, the easternmost boundary of its jurisdiction, but Helper is 20 minutes closer, Helper Mayor Mike Dalpiaz said. When an accident occurs on the west side of Soldier Summit the Carbon County ambulance can't go because of the boundary, he said."That means an accident victim may lay injured longer. People could die. Whoever can get there quicker should do the work. I'm in the process of cancelling the agreement with Utah County," Dalpiaz said.
Pulling out of the agreement would leave rescues solely up to Utah County. That could cost lives because Helper rescue personnel often have accident victims ready for transport by the time a Spanish Fork ambulance arrives, he said.
Soldier Summit lies 35 miles east of Spanish Fork, but only 22 miles from Helper on one of the most dangerous sections of U.S. 6. Eighteen accident victims died last year on the highway and many more were injured.
The mutual aid agreement covers just rescue and fire suppression, but not ambulances. Rescue trucks from both cities always respond to canyon accidents, said Don Thomas, Spanish Fork emergency preparedness officer. A Spanish Fork rescue truck and ambulance come from the west side of Spanish Fork Canyon, while a Helper rescue truck accompanies a Carbon County ambulance from the east side. But the rescue truck doesn't have the same boundary restriction as the Carbon County ambulance because the fire and ambulance boundaries don't match, Utah County Commissioner Jerry Grover said.
The rescue and fire suppression boundary near Tucker Rest Stop, west of Soldier Summit, leaves an 8-mile gap to the ambulance boundary at Soldier Summit. The state sets the ambulance boundaries, while the counties negotiate the fire and rescue boundaries.
That means that a Spanish Fork ambulance transports accident victims on the west side of Soldier Summit to a Utah County hospital. Sometimes rescue personnel spend more time arguing over who's in charge, while emergency medical technicians load up the injured and take them away, Thomas said. "There's been some hurt feelings."
"When someone is lying there injured they don't care what emblem is on the side of the ambulance," Grover said. "I just want the fastest response time, but (Utah County) has nothing to do with the ambulances."
"The bottom line is money," Thomas said. Emergency personnel should take the more critically injured -- even on the east side of Soldier Summit -- to the trauma center at Utah Valley Regional Medical Center in Provo, he said, but often they are transported to the smaller, private Castle View Hospital in Carbon County first, then moved again to UVRMC or to hospitals in Salt Lake City.
"We're not going to sign over the medical care (to Carbon County)," Thomas said. "(Accident victims are) getting the best already." If Helper wants the boundaries changed, "they will have to petition the state," he said. Grover said he met with officials from both Spanish Fork and Helper about six months ago but was unable to resolve the dispute.
Mutual aid jurisdiction boundaries aren't Dalpiaz's only complaint. When Helper crews beat Spanish Fork crews to an accident, Helper rescue equipment often goes with Utah County rescue personnel. But they won't return Helper's equipment, Dalpiaz complained. Helper personnel have to go get it. He said imposes a hardship on Helper because the crew is shorthanded.
"That is a problem," Grover said. If Carbon County ambulance personnel take Helper's equipment it is easily returned, Dalpiaz said.
Officials say that speed and poor judgment are major causes of accidents on U.S. 6, but residents complain that poor highway design contributes. Center passing lanes dubbed "angel lanes" remain a chief concern among locals. Vehicles traveling in either direction may use the center passing lane, which has resulted in deadly head--on crashes.
Gov. Mike Leavitt has pledged more than $80 million to make the highway safer, but residents say that isn't enough. Huntington resident Kathy Justice is leading a petition drive to lobby the Legislature for more money when it meets in January.