I couldn't agree with you more Joann ... even speculating that they don't know is scary.

Look what they went through when Cumby's wanted to put in an E-85 tank ... and they can't even handle something that's been here for years.
sheesh

Quoted from bumblethru

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.

ABSOLUTELY.  YOU HIT THE NAIL ON THE HEAD.  DO WITHOUT THE SERVICE FOR A FEW MONTHS AND HOPE IT ISN'T YOU OR A LOVED ONE THAT NEEDS MEDICAL ATTENTION AND/OR A RIDE TO THE HOSPITAL.  Don't even think of taking a risk and losing one of the most, if not the most valuable asset in ANY town.  They are an incredible organization that has worked as hard for us as they do you.  I can't say enough good things about them.  Give them what they need and do it quickly.  I would suggest writing a check to make a donation for what ever amount you can afford.  Believe me, this is not a service you can do without.  

My guess would be that if all the EMS were trained to deal with chemical stuff, it would eventually become 'common knowledge' as to what they were trained to assist with.....chemical from GE, Knolls, SI etc,,,,,,the list is endless, then there would be anarchy and the fear of job losses or safe communities.......

Quoted from JoAnn

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.

JoAnn, First of all I hope your husband is ok.  Second, you have to understand that REMS is Basic Life Support(BLS) service.  They are only permitted by law to provide medical assistance that falls into the catagory.  I'm not expert enough to tell you exactly what falls into it, but as it says it is basic.  Paramedics can provide Advanced Life Support (ALS) which allows for the dispensing of certain medicines etc.  I would agree that there should be an agency in this area that can deal with a chemical burn considering the proximity of SI

I thought the fire dept are trained in stuff like that---in which case if our EMS were connected info shared is info used......

I don't think the chemicals from GE or Knolls are anywhere near what they have at Schenectady International. It's a growing need in all communities.

Read the rest of the posts......glad your husband is ok.

Didn't they have to learn how to handle Ammonia emergencies used for refrigeration? (Golub Corporation)

PS  I'm sorry to stick my "outsider" nose in this thread.  I don't usually post on Rotterdam matters, not my business, but I am passionate on this subject regardless of the locale.  JoAnn, aside from them not being familiar with chemical burns imagine if they were not there at all to even get him to the hospital quickly for the attention he needed.  I recall an elderly woman who fell on the ice in front of a store in town on a bitter cold night in January.  She laid there for 45 minutes waiting for an ambulance that didn't come.....until Rotterdam was called.  A teenage boy who put his arm through a plate glass window in the gym at school, again he waited for an ambulance that did not come....until Rotterdam was called. He was bleeding profusely and could have died.  A man in his 40's having a heart attack in the middle of the night, the list goes on and on until we (town board) required Rotterdam be called instead of our own ambulance corps.  That directive wasn't without its time delays in some cases, but an ambulance came.

Maybe I'm not saying (typing) this the way I intended. I am more than greatful that our community has an ambulance service. I do know that their presence in a community should not be just a luxury but in fact a necessity. Rotterdam's ambulance corp is top notch and serves the community in a highly professional manner and should be commended for that. I also was not referring to their quick respond time. The Rotterdam Ambulance has a very quick respond time for medical emergencies and should be commended for that also. Believe me, their life saving service and their devoted hard work does not go un-noticed.

My point was that in a community where one of it's main employers is a chemical plant, there should be at least some basic knowledge of a chemical burn. I was just surprised that there isn't. Did I say it better this time. A  lot gets lost in translation over the net.

Maybe after this unfortunately accident the REMS Corp will add chemical burns to their list of additional training needed. Glad that your husband is OK.

JoAnn, I understood what you mean't the first time around.  I agree with all you said in your first and second post.  I also agree that considering SI Group in the town there should be some type of protocol for chemical burns.  Seems paramedics or perhaps Schenectady hazmat could have responded in addition to the ambulance.  

The stuff at knolls and GE are already in the aquifir around the area.......and the stuff they put out doesn't do damage you can 'see'......

http://www.dailygazette.com

Quoted Text

PRINCETOWN
Rotterdam EMS asked to expand its coverage
Group informs town it needs financial help
BY JUSTIN MASON Gazette Reporter

    With only one ambulance crew on the road per shift, the Rotterdam Emergency Medical Service is now being asked to expand coverage farther into the western edge of Princetown.
    Previously, the area was covered by the Duanesburg Volunteer Ambulance Service, which has its station about 4 miles away from the Princetown border. But because of a reorganization effort and a continuing volunteer shortage, the company is no longer able to meet its obligation to the town, explained Charles Leoni, chairman of DVAC’s Board of Directors.
    “At this time, we find ourselves unable to do this,” he told members of Princetown’s Town Board Tuesday.
    The announcement came as a shock to officials from REMS, who had initially attended the meeting to request a financial contribution from Princetown. Representing the Rotterdam corps, Terry Hannigan asked the board for an estimated $30-per-household contribution in the corps’ 2009 budget to aid REMS, which has had its own problems lately.
    “Unfortunately, it’s a pay-toplay system,” he told the board. “It’s a situation where there has to be money coming from either the municipalities or the citizenry.”
    There are roughly 1,072 proper- ties in REMS’ original coverage area, with another 72 parcels that were previously served by DVAC. Princetown Supervisor Nick Maura said he intends to discuss the REMS proposal with Rotterdam and then reach a decision with the board sometime in the coming months.
    “Obviously we need an ambulance service,” he said following Tuesday’s meeting.
    REMS, which was created by a 2003 merger between the White Eagle and Rotterdam ambulance companies, has struggled financially. The merger effectively transformed the ambulance corps from a predominantly volunteer organization to a service with an all-paid staff.
    Joe Vanderwerker, the president of REMS’ board, said the merger was done under the assumption that the town of Rotterdam would eventually fund the service through either an annual contribution or a taxing district. He said the original concept of the merger was to have two ambulances covering the town 24 hours a day and seven days a week.
    But after the merger was approved, the town funding didn’t follow. Hannigan said REMS was also forced to abandon its volunteer staff because of insurance premiums.
    “Had they [funded REMS] in 2004, it wouldn’t be an issue,” he said. “Unfortunately, we’ve been held hostage by that Town Board’s inability to do what they said they would do.”
    As a result, REMS now has only one crew per shift scheduled to serve Rotterdam, with a secondary crew on call. During DVAC’s reorganization during the spring, REM’s coverage area intermittently expanded to include all of Princetown and most of Duanesburg.
    Having the single ambulance means REMS can sometimes be taken out of service for nearly two hours if an emergency requires a crew to take a patient to Albany Medical Center and a secondary crew can’t be summoned. Without crews from Rotterdam, the area relies on the private Mohawk Ambulance Service, which dispatches from the city of Schenectady.
    Vanderwerker said REMS remains the only one in the county not subsidized by a municipality. He said REMS has the equipment ready for a second ambulance, but can’t hire more staff until it becomes subsidized.
    “It’s doable with [the equipment] we have right now, but we need assistance.”
    Meanwhile, Vanderwerker said REMS is slowly pulling itself out of debt to the state and other creditors, such as Rotterdam. He said the company is also in litigation with the Internal Revenue Service to clear more than $250,000 worth of federal payroll tax liens that arose sometime after REMS switched to a paid staff.
    The Rotterdam Town Board on Wednesday allocated $3,000 for the town auditor to review REMS’ finances. Supervisor Steve Tommasone said the audit is to develop a fiscal report on the corps that can be shared with the other towns interested in subsidizing the company.
    Tommasone said the audit should be completed by the end of September, at which time he plans to press his Town Board to make a decision. He said that decision should be aimed at bringing “a long-term resolution” to an issue that affects thousands of people living in the western area of the county.
    “This is a huge issue,” he said. “This is very big for the community.”

I don't know the "politics" of this matter and quite frankly I don't care.......one should have nothing to do with the other.  The heads of the Town Board in
Rotterdam should be hung in shame for not providing some sort of funding to this most important service.  The town of Duanesburg sent them a tad over $12,000 earlier this year in deep thanks for the help they provided us during our time of need.  The hope was these funds could go to something "extra"
REMS needed or wanted. Unfortunately, I assume the funds went to the IRS.  To find out all this time Rotterdam doesn't even fund them is mind boggling to me.  In my mind there is NO justification.