Three Town Ambulance Is A Step Closer To Reality
By Doug La Rocque
The Grafton Rescue Squad now has responsibility to cover the Town of Berlin. That was announced at both the Town of Berlin and Town of Grafton town board meetings this past week, as the NYS Department of Health has now officially transferred the Certificate of Need (CON) to provide ambulance service from the Berlin Fire Department to the Grafton Rescue Squad. The fire department ceased operation of its ambulance because of a lack of staffing and surrendered its CON last year.
At that time, Grafton Rescue Squad Captain Joe Allain announced plans to create a daytime paid ambulance service that would cover Grafton, Berlin and Petersburgh. It would be staffed by an EMT and a driver (Basic Life Support, known as BLS) Monday through Friday from 6 am until 6 pm. The rescue squad would still depend on a paid or other nearby Advanced Life Support for ALS calls. The transfer of the CON also legally allows mutual aid for Berlin.
All three towns have budgeted money to help pay for the combined service, which would also do its own billing. According to Donna Baldwin of the Grafton Rescue Squad, the effort to recruit EMTs to staff the daytime ambulance has begun, with eight people having expressed interest so far. The hangup so far is two-fold. Efforts to acquire Workman’s Compensation Insurance have proved to be difficult, as many insurance carriers are reluctant to write such policies for EMS workers during this time of COVID-19. Scheduling interviews with the squad’s medical director, who serves as an Emergency Room doctor at the Albany Medical Center, has also proved to be a bit cumbersome. This she is hopeful can be worked out in time for the daytime service to begin by late August or mid September.
Berlin Fly Car
Captain Allain also announced at the Monday, July 13 Grafton meeting, the squad has purchased a used SUV from the Brunswick Fire Department, that they are converting into a Fly Car that will be stationed in Berlin. This is a vehicle that carries much of the same equipment as an ambulance, except is not set up to transport a patient. Since the daytime ambulance will most likely be stationed in Grafton, a fly car based in Berlin, could initially respond to calls in that area sooner than a Grafton based vehicle, which depending on the location of call, could be 8 to 12 minutes away. The ambulance would still respond in case transport is needed. This vehicle was purchased with Grafton Rescue Squad funds, not from monies allocated by the town.
No State Money Yet
Grafton Town Supervisor Ingrid Gundrum announced at the meeting, the Town has yet to receive the $150,000 grant for the purchase of the new Grafton Ambulance, which has been in service for about a year now, and was purchased by the Town with the promise of reimbursement by the State. There have been many hang-ups over the past few years, primarily involving required paperwork. Supervisor Gundrum said at the Board’s June meeting that all the required documentation has been submitted, and the Town is just waiting for New York State to cut the check.
Ms. Gundrum also said another $50,000 grant, obtained by Assemblyman Jake Ashby to help defray some of the Tri-Town Rescue Squad’s start up costs, is considered a member item, and she is hopeful but not certain it will be forthcoming sometime soon, given the state’s dire fiscal situation caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.