Norwich EMS had 169 calls so far in 2021, and 80 of them were calls to Oxford. (Photo by Sarah Giglio)

NORWICH — On Tuesday, the Norwich Common Council gathered to discuss Norwich EMS services, a possible change to the open hours of Baker Dog Park, the National Historic Register, and more.

Fire Chief Jan Papelino attended the meeting, and informed council members of the continuing work being done to improve the strain put on Norwich EMS workers.

"We did six mutual aid calls between Friday, Saturday, and Sunday this weekend, which created some backfills and those kinds of things," said Papelino. "So we are still going outside our CON (Certificate of Need) when we don't have another rig out on something else."

Papelino also stated that Oxford Mayor Terry Stark is currently looking to fill EMS positions in Oxford, and that interviews were scheduled to start this week.

"They were supposed to start on interviews this week for some of their people," said Papelino. "It's like I told him, anything is better than nothing. Anything you guys can do to cover your own district will help everybody in the town."

Alderman Robert Jeffrey highlighted that Norwich EMS had 169 calls so far this year, and that 80 of them were to Oxford.

"That shocked me. I've never seen it where half of the calls outside of our CON are to another municipality. It's just sad. I'd rather they have a plan in place because it's unsustainable for us to continue this way," said Jeffrey.