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It’s Halloween, and one of this week’s scariest stories was about the relationship between Collier County EMS and local fire districts. The thought that an emergency vehicle could show up at your house and the crew not be allowed to use their life-saving training -- that’s scary.

My youngest son is now in college, but before he could walk, we were on a first-name basis with the folks at 9-1-1. The kid was the Houdini of child-proof containers, finding his way into the likes of fire ant killer, toilet bowl cleaner and a bottle of his favorite medicine.

At the time, I didn’t think much of it when a fire truck, an ambulance and a fire shift officer showed up at our house. I was younger and didn’t realize how much all that attention cost me.

A few years later, my awareness grew as I began to follow the rifts between the fire districts and the county’s EMS service. EMS questioned the need for fire districts to cover medical calls. Fire districts countered that, as fire control and rescue districts, they were mandated to respond to all calls.

Not much has changed over the years, just different leadership. What we see is a microcosm of the problems of larger government agencies who are supposed to help us. They don’t share well or play together nicely. The people they are supposed to serve get slighted because of political struggles.

The real issue is money, power and control. The fire districts have traditionally been first on the scene to administer life-saving efforts. Most districts provided basic life support, but with the trend toward paramedic certification, many fire districts now have the capability to provide advanced life support, which is especially important in serious injury, such as heart failure.

But, there’s a catch. By law, all emergency service agencies in the county must have the same training. In addition to state certification, EMS requires all of its paramedics to complete “Tober training,” overseen by medical director

Dr. Robert Tober. He gets to call the shots on what is required before paramedics can use their training.

Threatened by fire districts creating their own EMS bureaus, Tober has intentionally dug in his heels on training issues, creating a senseless stumbling block.

Watching this struggle for control take place over the years has been frustrating for all and very expensive for the taxpayers. The rifts go back decades, so even simple solutions don’t come easy, as existing personnel can’t overcome the personality conflicts of the past.

After years of squabbling, county commissioners asked the fire districts to come up with a consolidation plan, adding that they might toss EMS into the pot. They set a pretty tight time frame (especially for fire district consensus) and it wasn’t very successful, so the Collier County Fire Chiefs Association took on the project. You can view their feasibility study on the Golden Gate Fire District Web site at www.ggfire.com.

This week, county commissioners got a look at that feasibility study. Proponents also discussed a legislative bill that would provide a shell for potential future consolidation in Collier County. The bill was not an official referendum for consolidation, but a framework that would allow consolidation to move forward faster, should districts chose to take part in the future.

It was originally hoped the bill would be presented during this year’s legislative delegation meeting in December. That didn’t happen. There are too many fiefdoms involved to even agree upon a frame. Don’t expect common sense to prevail too soon.