A Tri-Town Ambulance Service Moves Forward
By Doug La Rocque
Faced with no ambulance service at all, and no mutual aid help from surrounding towns, perhaps more because of liability concerns than legal matters, at its Thursday, October 10 meeting, the Berlin Town Board voted unanimously (with Councilman John Winn absent), to endorse the transfer of the Berlin Volunteer Fire Department’s Certificate of Need (CON), the document required to operate an ambulance service, to the Grafton Rescue Squad. The Board also agreed to splitting the cost of operating an Emergency Medical Technician (EMT) staffed ambulance Monday through Friday, from 6 am to 6 pm. The exact dollar amount is yet unknown, but the overall cost is estimated by Grafton Rescue Squad Captain Joe Allain, to be a little north of $100,000 for the first year.
According to Town Supervisor Rob Jaeger, the Berlin Fire Department is willing to transfer the CON. Supervisor Jaeger is also a member of the department. The transfer will immediately accomplish one thing, it will the free neighboring ambulances of any legal or liability concerns, when responding to Berlin.
Speaking to The Eastwick Press following the meeting, Councilman Dean Maxon said he recognizes this will have an impact on the budget, and takes his fiscal responsibility to the taxpayer very seriously, but “the safety of the people of Berlin is both overriding and compelling.”
The other two towns involved are Grafton and Petersburgh. Both towns have Town Board meetings scheduled for Monday evening, October 21. Petersburgh Town Supervisor Alan Webster said the issue very well could be placed on the meeting agenda and that he believes most other board members are in favor of the venture. He also indicated there are certain issues to work out, such as how to fund this and what should an equitable split of the cost be for Petersburgh, which is the smallest of the three towns. That, he indicated, may not be truly known until such a joint ambulance service has been up and running and there is hard data to look at. Petersburgh Ambulance Captain and Town Board member Dennis Smith said it is conceivable the Ambulance Squad itself may fund the first year to let the Town get a better fiscal handle on the associated costs.
In Grafton, Supervisor Ingrid Gundrum said she too expects the subject to be part of the Board’s discussions, and again said it is a matter of balancing expenses with the obvious need for such a service.
While money is an issue the towns must consider, at the October 7 meeting of representatives of all three towns, there was a commitment “to get it done.”
EMS Is A Requirement
Assemblyman Jake Ashby, who represents all three towns, says it is a requirement of the New York State Constitution, “that emergency services be provided to our citizens.” Providing those services is fast becoming quite a challenge for many communities. NYS Department of Health representative Joseph Farrell told that October 7 meeting, there were 11 rural ambulances in the state that were in serious danger of folding, “Berlin just happened to be the first.” Mr. Ashby tells The Eastwick Press, he is co-sponsoring a bill “which constitutes a commission on volunteer fire departments and would be aligned with the Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Services.” This commission would evaluate the need, resources and status of not only volunteer fire departments but Emergency Medical Services as well, throughout New York State.
In the meantime, do not look for the state to come charging in on a white horse. Mr. Farrell made it very clear, that New York “is a home rule state,” which means it is up to affected communities to find their own answers. The administrations of all three towns say they are fervently working on it.