By Peter Laskowski
Yesterday I stopped by the Mad River Valley Ambulance Service (MRVAS) office to say hello. I am a former member (EMT and driver) of MRVAS. While there, I talked to MRVAS personnel who were dismayed that moments before they had not been able to respond to an ambulance call due to lack of volunteers. This apparently happens several times per week. In this instance, and in the past, a neighboring ambulance service, Waterbury, was called to assist.
MRVAS volunteers, upon joining the service, are asked to sign up for a minimum of five 12-hour shifts per month. It generally takes three to four people per shift to respond to a call: driver, crew chief, attendant, first responder, dispatcher. Some of these duties can overlap. If not enough people sign up and an emergency call comes in, the dispatcher will ask for anyone who is available to step in. Sometimes a second call is sent out to encourage volunteers to respond. Then, if not enough personnel are available for the MRVAS crew, a neighboring ambulance is called to respond. All of this adds to the response time.
An additional situation that is occurring with greater frequency is that a paramedic service is asked to respond to assist with particularly serious emergencies requiring the dispensing of pain medications, which MRVAS personnel are not authorized to dispense. The closest paramedic service is stationed in Barre. This is also happening several times per week.
It is clear that MRVAS needs assistance and some changes in its operating procedures to ensure that emergencies can be dealt with in an efficient and timely manner. Whether this means getting more volunteers, getting paramedic training or paying its personnel to encourage participation needs to be examined.
To determine the exact level of need and how to encourage the necessary changes, the following information should be gathered and examined:
A. The number of open shifts per week.
B. The number of times per week MRVAS is not able to respond or has a reduced response and needs to call for neighboring service assistance.
C. The frequency of calls to Barre paramedics.
D. General response times to establish trends.
Perhaps MRVAS can be asked to add this information to its published ambulance log or perhaps someone such as the town's designated medical officer can be asked to review such details and provide guidance on how to continue improving The Valley's public safety infrastructure.
The Valley has been incredibly fortunate to have such a great group of dedicated volunteers who are currently stretched too thin.
Peter Laskowski
Waitsfield
