Mohawk Ambulance Relocating To Brunswick
Move May Help Response Times For Eastern Rensco
By Doug La Rocque
Brunswick Town Supervisor Phil Herrington told The Eastwick Press on Monday, March 11, that the Mohawk Ambulance Service has purchased land on McChesney Avenue off Route 7. They plan “to build a million dollar facility that will house six to eight ambulances, staffed by 35 to 40 Paramedics and Emergency Medical Technicians (EMTs).” Mohawk currently houses one ambulance in the town, in space rented by Brunswick near the intersection of Routes 2 and 278. Mohawk will close its Troy facility after the move. Supervisor Herrington called this great news not only for Brunswick, where he indicates Emergency Medical Services (EMS) calls are on the rise, but for a good portion of the rural areas of the county as well. Mohawk is the primary provider of Advance Life Support (ALS) services for most of the county, outside of the City of Troy and in the Hoosick Falls area, where ambulance services from Cambridge and Bennington are generally the first called.
Rensselaer County Executive Steve McLaughlin made the move a prominent part of his State of the County address to the County Legislature on Tuesday evening, saying “We welcome the expansion of service by Mohawk. This can mean good things for towns in eastern Rensselaer County, but also communities in the northern and southern areas as well. It is no secret there are concerns about ambulance response capabilities throughout the county, so the additional resources from Mohawk are coming at a good time.
We look forward to working with Mohawk as they expand service in our county, and continuing to work with our emergency service partners on the local level to protect residents and hopefully improve response times.”
Berlin Ambulance Unable to Respond to Calls at This Time.
As has been reported by The Eastwick Press, the shortage of medically trained first responders in the eastern and central portions of the county has reached critical levels.
According to Berlin Town Supervisor Rob Jaeger, the ambulance, owned by the Berlin Fire Department, currently has no EMT’s available meaning the ambulance is unable to respond to any calls. It is still located in Berlin, but the town now has to rely upon mutual aid from a neighboring town, or from a paid service such as Mohawk. Supervisor Jaeger notes that having an ambulance respond from Brunswick versus Troy or Albany helps, but it is still a 20 minutes response time under the best of conditions. Complicating the situation, is that the neighboring ambulances in Stephentown and Petersburgh, are critically low on EMT’s themselves, and often not able to help. The Grafton Rescue Squad has added some new EMT’s, but most are still not available during daytime hours. Grafton Town Supervisor Ingrid Gundrum stated at the Monday, March 11 Town Board Meeting, there have been discussions between town officials and others involved with EMS in Grafton, Berlin and Petersburgh about possible solutions to the problem, but as yet, nothing concrete has come out of these talks.
Sheriff’s Deputies Can Respond
Since 2008, Rensselaer County Sheriff’s Deputies have been undergoing EMT training, and the department has patrol cars that are EMT equipped, which are in service county wide. This means deputies, who are often one of the first to arrive on the scene, can provide medical assistance until further help arrives.
Mohawk hopes to open the new facility in as little as six months. The proposal must still be reviewed by the Brunswick Planning Board, before any construction can begin. The land involved is already zoned commercial.