Bangor will start charging care facilities significantly more for non-emergency 911 calls to help pick people up off the floor amid a surge in such calls.
Health care facilities and nursing homes will now be charged $550 per call for a lift assist that does not result in a patient being transported to another location for additional medical care. The Bangor City Council approved the fee increase Monday.
The new fees do not apply to people in private homes.
Previously facilities would be charged $25 for the first three calls and $125 for four or more calls.
The Bangor Fire Department has seen nearly double the number of lift assist calls this year by nursing and assisted living facilities, Chief Geoffrey Low said. There were 275 calls in 2024 to help get someone off the floor and not transport them for additional medical care. There have been 225 similar calls by early June this year, Low said.
The calls take at least 30 minutes each and pull first responders to non-emergency situations. Increased fees will at the very least reimburse the fire department for its time and it may serve as a deterrent for facilities making non-emergency 911 calls.
“That’s a considerable amount of time just in six months where resources aren’t available and we’re filling a role that those facilities or housing complexes should be able to do,” Low said.
The facilities call the fire department because they are concerned staff could injure their backs lifting people, Low said.
Four health care facilities in Bangor either declined to comment on the fire department’s new policy or did not return calls from the Bangor Daily News on Wednesday.
First responders take time to make sure the person isn’t injured, get them off the floor and then spend some time to make sure the person is OK, which takes about 30 minutes, Low said.
“It’s not dignified to show up and say ‘Well you’re not hurt. We’re going to leave you on the floor,’” Low said. “That’s just not right and I wouldn’t expect my staff to do that. We’re going to pick them up and treat them like people, like we should.”
