Community Based Ambulance HomeOur goal is to perpetuate the community based ambulance model that has provided outstanding service for many years. Simply stated the community based model allows all willing members of a community the opportunity to serve. Most of our requests for service are answered with crews that are physically on duty in one of our two stations. The community based model allows for the immediate call up and deployment of local off duty staff members to meet unexpected needs. Commercial ambulance providers promote the use of system status management and the movement of on duty crews from City to City to cover unexpected needs in one community.
Proposal to Integrate Paramedics and Ambulance HomeRotterdam EMS recently made a proposal to the Town to shift the current funding (not more funding) for the paramedic portion of the current emergency medical service from government to the not for profit ambulance. No more money will be spent – the ambulance will provide paramedic ambulance service and increase the overall level of service. The current annual commitment by each home (not each person) equal to approximately $ .13 a day would be used to support an improved paramedic ambulance service that will often triple the number of available paramedics.
When the INSANE are running the ASYLUM In individuals, insanity is rare; but in groups, parties, nations and epochs, it is the rule. -- Friedrich Nietzsche
“How fortunate for those in power that people never think.” Adolph Hitler
ROTTERDAM Emergency officials prepare merger plan EMS, paramedic service seek consolidation BY JUSTIN MASON Gazette Reporter Reach Gazette reporter Justin Mason at 395-3113 or jmason@dailygazette.net
Officials from the Rotterdam Emergency Medical Service Inc. and the town’s paramedic service will prepare a plan for merging the two services over the next month in an attempt to gain consensus among town board members on the idea. Supervisor Steve Tommasone said town board members haven’t been able to reach a consensus on recent efforts to consolidate the two programs. Such a plan was pitched more than six months ago by a private consulting firm, which suggested a merger would create a 24-hour service vastly improved over the present arrangement. “I can’t get all four board members to agree,” Tommasone said Thursday. “If it were up to me, we’d probably be there by now.” The paramedics operate out of the Rotterdam Police Department on Princetown Road and are often the first units dispatched to an emergency call. Although police officers originally served as paramedics, the program is now staffed by civilians. The Holdsworth Report suggested Rotterdam combined the town-funded paramedic program with the nonprofit REMS. Combining the smaller paramedic service with the larger volunteer ambulance service would cost roughly $145,000 more per year, the report stated. Mohawk Ambulance Service has also courted the town, offering its fleet of emergency crews as an alternative to the nonprofi t agency now servicing the town. Last month, the private ambulance company proposed supplying Rotterdam and parts of Princetown with two ambulances at an annual cost of $430,000. Tommasone said embracing a private ambulance company would mean a complete dissolution of the existing ambulance and paramedic service. He said the cost to switch back to a nonprofit model would be cost-prohibitive in the event the town was unsatisfied by the private service. “There are horror stories out there,” he said. “The costs are exorbitant.” Meanwhile, the volunteer ambulance service has fallen more than $14,000 in debt to Rotterdam for fuel. Town Comptroller Pat Aragosa said the debt dates to the fourth quarter of 2006 and to the second quarter of 2007. Rotterdam supplies all the volunteer fire departments and REMS with fuel, which is then reimbursed through quarterly payments. Aragosa said REMS began falling behind in their payments about two years ago but has assured the town the debt will soon be cleared. “They hope to get it cleared by the end of the year,” he said. Likewise, Tommasone said he’s not overly concerned about REMS getting up to date with their fuel payments to the town. He said the town is in good financial state to allow the agency a bit of leeway. “They typically catch up,” he said. “They pay their bills.”
This article doen't go quite far enough in explaining WHY the other board members are not in agreement. I think their opinions should have been in this article as well. Cause from where I sit, the merger seems okay to me! Definately NOT Mohawk Ambulance! And the other question I would have is why and how did the first responders change from police officers to civilians?
When the INSANE are running the ASYLUM In individuals, insanity is rare; but in groups, parties, nations and epochs, it is the rule. -- Friedrich Nietzsche
“How fortunate for those in power that people never think.” Adolph Hitler
I would bet this one thing, I'm pretty sure it would be split along party lines, which could be something that would be fixed on 1/1, depending on the outcome of the election, just 8 days away.
When the INSANE are running the ASYLUM In individuals, insanity is rare; but in groups, parties, nations and epochs, it is the rule. -- Friedrich Nietzsche
“How fortunate for those in power that people never think.” Adolph Hitler
ROTTERDAM Corps having IRS troubles Ambulance service on financial mend BY JUSTIN MASON Gazette Reporter
Bookkeeping errors left the Rotterdam Emergency Medical Services Inc. in a federal tax hole, company officials say, but they insist the nonprofit ambulance corps is on the financial mend. The Internal Revenue Service imposed substantial tax liens against the ambulance corps in November 2007 and March 2008. The liens imposed in 2007 total $189,814, while those levied in 2008 add up to $59,631, according to records filed with the Schenectady County clerk during the past year. In both instances, the liens are for unpaid payroll taxes. Officials from the Internal Revenue Services declined to discuss the liens assessed to REMS, citing their disclosure regulations, which prohibit them from commenting on any individual tax matter. Joe Vanderwerker, the president of the company’s board of directors, said attorneys representing REMS are in the process of working through a resolution with the IRS. Though declining to discuss specific details, he said the company isn’t in any fi - nancial jeopardy at the moment. “It has been resolved since then,” he said. Venderwerker said the error arose in bookkeeping several years ago after the White Eagle and Rotterdam ambulance companies merged. The 2003 merger was intended to create a financially viable volunteer ambulance corps. “We got stuck with all the liability,” he said of the merger. Meanwhile, REMS now owes Rotterdam more than $20,000 for town fuel it has used over a nearly two-year period. Town Comptroller Pat Aragosa said the ambulance corps last made a payment toward their 2006 balance at the end of last year. Aragosa said the ambulance corps is usually more diligent about settling their balance and their level of debt with the town is higher than he could recall it being previously. But he said the town is fairly lenient in allowing the corps time to pay off its balance. “We’d like to get paid, obviously,” he said. County Fire Coordinator John Nuzback said he was made aware of the lien situation when he was contacted by an IRS agent in April. He said the agent asked how the county would be affected if REMS were shut down. At the time, REMS was supporting the western fringe of the county as the Duanesburg Volunteer Ambulance Company attempted to reorganize. Nuzback said he advised the IRS agent that any shutdown of REMS would leave a large swath of the county without an ambulance service. “I told them in one word, ‘devastating,’ ” he said. Nuzback, the one-time board president of REMS, said the ambulance corps hasn’t reached out to his office for help. However, he said he’s been assured the troubles with the IRS are being resolved. “They are making strides,” he said. Rotterdam Supervisor Steve Tommasone said the apparent debt incurred by REMS demonstrates the growing need for the town to support the ambulance service financially. The town does not fi - nancially subsidize REMS, though officials have often discussed establishing a tax district for such a purpose. In 2005, REMS asked the town to support an annual $25-perresidence fee, which would raise about $300,000 annually for the ambulance service. Though Tommasone voiced support for a such a taxing district, he said the town would first need a glimpse at the ambulance corps’ finances. “We have to know their financial position as we move forward,” he said. The town is also awaiting a proposal from REMS that would outline a merger between Rotterdam’s paramedic service and the ambulance corps. Combining the smaller paramedic service with the larger volunteer ambulance corps would cost roughly $145,000 more per year, according to a private consultant report returned to the town last year. “Now we’re at a point where some decisions are going to need to be made,” Tommasone said.
maybe steveie will study again. How much will it cost to study it, after all these years. He is a good man but no cojones as I said once or twice. but another tax wont help- I say we need to look at farming it out over to Mohawk ambulance. Look at what happened in Duanesburg there
The town has already done a study. And I do hope that when you said to farm Rotterdam's Ambulance service out to Mohawk, you were saying it in jest. Rotterdam has an excellent emergency ambulance service. If they need more money...give it to them. They sent out a survey a few years back asking the residents if they would mind paying an extra $25/yr to support our ambulance service. I believe the majority said that they wouldn't mind at all.
So I say give Rotterdam's ambulance service the money needed to support the town.
Check out Reply#30 on this thread.
When the INSANE are running the ASYLUM In individuals, insanity is rare; but in groups, parties, nations and epochs, it is the rule. -- Friedrich Nietzsche
“How fortunate for those in power that people never think.” Adolph Hitler
why is our ambulance not mingled with our fabulous firehouses????
as for the Mohawk Ambulance ticket---the capitalists are circling for when national healthcare takes over----lucrative government contracts will be the next hot button issue.....the money has to come from somewhere and then there will be unions and this conversation will take on a whole new view and direction.......
then, there goes our pioneering spirit.......
...you are a product of your environment, your environment is a product of your priorities, your priorities are a product of you......
The replacement of morality and conscience with law produces a deadly paradox.
STOP BEING GOOD DEMOCRATS---STOP BEING GOOD REPUBLICANS--START BEING GOOD AMERICANS
It's never going to be 'cheaper' to run an ambulance service. Do we think that it will really be cheaper to hand our ambulance service over to Mohawk? Perhaps it will look good on paper in the beginning...but then as each year goes by and each contract comes up..it will become a huge expense.
And what are we talking about here? Money or emergency health service? Let Rotterdam keep it's own emergency ambulance service and raise taxes if need be. Rotterdam has a high population of seniors that may need this service. So keep it where and how it is now. Money can be funded in many ways. - fund raisers - door to door for donations - a one time fee like our water tax bill - incorporate it into our property tax
Perhaps there is a possibility to have an ambulance/emt for each fire district. Rotterdam already has a paramedic on the police force, I believe, that covers the entire town. That paramedic could work with all of them.
People seem to be loyal and very supportive to their fire districts. So just incorporate an ambulance service there also. Look, if some of these fire stations, like So. Schenectady, can afford a station like that....they could well support an ambulance in their district.
When the INSANE are running the ASYLUM In individuals, insanity is rare; but in groups, parties, nations and epochs, it is the rule. -- Friedrich Nietzsche
“How fortunate for those in power that people never think.” Adolph Hitler
My husband works for the SI Group (formally Schenectady Chemicals) in Rotterdam Jct. While at work today, the chemical Phenol spilt on his face, neck and arm. All on the right side. Causing a chemical burn. I won't go into the details of the how and why it happened since that is not what this post is about. Instead, it is about the Rotterdam Ambulance. I do not have any complaints with our ambulance workers, however, I do have one concern. They told my husband, while being transported to Ellis, that they knew nothing about treating chemical burns. I later spoke with an EMT from Schenectady, and he told me that they also are not equipped to handle chemical burns.
Now considering that the SI Group, a chemical plant, is located in Schenectady County/Rotterdam, I would think that all, or at least Rotterdam's ambulance corps, would be trained to handle such emergencies. I personally think that it should be mandatory.
I have an idea on how REMS can save a whole bunch of money...go back to being voluntary. Imagine all the salaries and the benefits that you wouldn't have to pay that they could, instead, send directly to the IRS to take care of this...and once that's taken care of, pay back the town for their gas.
He's doing fine, thanks for asking. This particular phenol is delivered to the SI Group by tanker over the roads. So between the transporting of this chemical and the fact that personal injury can happen, I still believe it should be mandatory that the ambulance corps should be equipped to handle chemical emergencies if they should arise.
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