Whatever Mars Borough Council decides Monday evening regarding who will be the community's primary emergency medical service provider — if, indeed, it actually makes such a decision — there are two matters about which borough residents should reflect and be concerned.

The first is that a turf war between emergency medical service providers is not really in any community's best interests, and Mars officials were remiss over the years in not stepping in to achieve an amicable settlement between the community's two competing services, Mars Emergency Medical Services and Quality Emergency Medical Services.

According to Tuesday's edition of the Butler Eagle, a feud between the two services has been ongoing for 15 years and, at one point, even included a lawsuit filed in county court.

The second is that laws should be followed, and there is no acceptable reason for why Mars EMS did not notify Emergency Medical Service Institute (EMSI), its Pittsburgh-based governing entity, of its intention to discontinue service, according to requirements governing such notifications. Mars EMS has not taken a call since late December.

Medical services providers are required to notify their regional EMS council, emergency dispatcher and municipalities within and around their response area of intentions to discontinue services 90 days in advance of the discontinuation. According to a letter from EMSI, Mars EMS failed to comply with shutdown requirements and therefore was — and apparently still is — considered in violation of state law.

At last Monday's Mars Borough Council meeting, council President Mike Fleming said borough officials had asked Quality EMS to provide interim primary service after the council learned that Mars EMS would no longer be a provider. The council then tabled the primary service issue until a meeting at 7 p.m. Monday at the borough building.

Meanwhile, it does not appear that Mars EMS, over the past three or four months, has tried to keep Frank Matis, Butler County's director of emergency services, up to date on what its plans might be — and that is inappropriate.

Matis said he received a call from Mars EMS in January notifying the 911 center that it would be out of service for a time. Like the timely notification that was to have been provided to EMSI but wasn't, the call to Matis displayed irresponsibility on the part of Mars EMS, since it occurred after service was discontinued.

Matis said he told Mars EMS at that time to notify him of any plans to permanently cease operations but, as of the beginning of this week, he said there had been no followup contacts.

Because of the importance of the issue, it would seem Matis should have been more aggressive in seeking regular updates, once he learned that a disruption of service was in effect — even if Mars EMS officials weren't going out of their way to contact him.

Reflecting on the last contact with Mars EMS and the fact that the county has taken the service off its list for any response, Matis said, "We're kind of in the dark as well."

But county emergency officials should be insistent upon knowing what's going on, even if borough officials have been lackadaisical about the Mars-Quality bitterness that has persisted over a decade and a half.

Meanwhile, it was reported in Wednesday's Butler Eagle that Jay Grinnell, coordinator of the Butler County Emergency Medical Services Council, had admitted to not being up to date on what has been happening with the Mars situation. He said he had not talked to anyone at Mars EMS since New Year's, but that he heard at an emergency medical services conference that Mars EMS was trying to find someone to take over the business.

He too should have been more persistent in seeking updated information over the past three months.

All considered, Matis said, he would be very reluctant to put Mars EMS back on the list of official responders unless service area municipalities specifically requested that he do so.

Amid all of this, there's the question of the financial impact that Mars EMS' permanent closing, if it occurs, would have on the Adams Area Fire District, since Mars EMS rents its facility from the fire company. And, the council must evaluate the response-time issues that also surround Mars EMS' situation.

In the time leading up to Monday's meeting, Mars Borough Council members need to decide their respective stances on how to proceed and then act decisively.

The ambulance situation is in its current state of uncertainty because of officials' longtime failure to keep up with everything that has been happening. The council needs to obtain all the facts, make a firm decision and then notifiy residents of that decision and how it will affect them.

Ambulance controversy shouldn't stalk the community for another 15 years.