MerlinMedic

Becareful of what you ask for, you might get it. 1973 Federal Law Pl 93-142 passed, guarantening for all students a "free an appropreate education." Also know as the law mandating special education. No problem with that, all kids should be given an appropreate education, but who pays for it? As we now know, the cost of special ed is prohibitive due to the unique talents these educators bring to some of the needest im our communitues. Property taxes many now are out of sight, mainly to pay for unfunded federal & state mandates. IIRCC MYS did a study in 2005 that said volunteer EMS saves the taxpayers between five to seven Billion dollars per year. With that in mind, do we want to mandate taht any/all municipalities will have some form of EMS?

Reading over my post from last I realized that it could be read in such a way to presume that I spoke for Alamo, or am part of Alaom's management. Neither is true. I do not speak for Alamo, nor am I part of Alamo's management. My thoughts as to what Alamo may do are what I would do if I were Alamo; based on my experences in the busuiness world and as a CEO/COO of a volly squad that bills & contracts with local governments.

Thw whole venue of my posts were: 1) These would be PV employees. 2) Coverage would be 24/7/365 3) These would be Paramedics, not cross trained as firefighters. History has shown us in Dutchess County those who are brought in as both quickly become one or the other. 4) 5 FTE is as follows: 4.2 medic FTEs working 40 hours per week to provide the 24/7 coverage. The.8 FTE is for vacation, training etc. 5) Notice there is no supervisor or Lieutenant included in this formula. Alamo's bid is for medics 24/7. Even though it was not stated as such. Does any one really think Alamo would provide free of charge a medic intercept if they didn't have the contract? Mutual aid, yes. But if an other company had the contract Alamo would rightly tell PV to contact their paid service if they wanted a medic after hours. I am not sure if Drobison82 is propossing that the current FFs get trained as medics. If he is, that is a major hit to the town budget, even if they took a one year class. Just think of all the OT they would have if they took a night class. That would come out of the FDs budget. He said that the cost for Alamo at $112,000 was too much for the services. I think it is a bargin.

Soooo, using your figures PV would spend more than the ~ $112,000 Alamo is asking. It would be $250,000 for 5 FTEs. Also, please recall that my figures were for PV to hire their own medics for 24/7 coverage. My point, whcih I must obviously not stated clearly, is that for $112,000/year, PV is getting a bargin. Yes, the government should shop around, that is thier job. But realise a bargin when they see one. Ask the important questions, such as: back fills, flycar or full rig, and is this enough money to keep you afloat or will you bail on us as one agency did with Pawling & Putnamm.

Even a fly car costs lotsa money. County said $550,000 average for 24/7 ALS ambulance. Cut that in half for a fly car, $225,000 for 24/7. Recall, Alamo still provides ALS service 24/7 to Pleasent Valley. And PV is upset about $122,000/year. That is still half of what a fly car would cost them. That fly car for 24/7 coverage represents 4.2 FTEs for any company. When you add in vacation time, a supervisor or some sort, you are looking at more like 5-6 employees. At $17.50 for 5 employees with no OT, the cost for salery alone is $182,000 per year. That does not count the cost of: benifits, retirement, uniforms, training and equipment. And if you think you can keep people for long at $17.50/hr. in Dutchess County, I have a bridge to sell you.

Why do we always go with the cheapest? It is the government way. The military always goes with the low bidder, so do the rest of our governments, unless they can show that the bid is unreasonable. The towns in Dutches County, as is Putnam County, now finding out how much EMS costs. Ulster is seeing a bit of this too, with the western towns (Kerhonkston etc.) now losing ALS because it isn't free. But, before we go blaming our politicians too much, recall this: how many of us filled out our Star Tax form to get 5% off of our property taxes?

Some in town, though, say at $9,366 a month Alamo might be doing more than covering its costs. "It's extortion," Chris Hart said. "How do we know they are not double-dipping?" $112,392 for a service that the county figures costs between $500,000 and $600,000. Hmmm, who is getting the best deal? If I got a life saving process for 20% of cost I would be very happy. Come to think of it, that IS what my dental plan is; they pay 80% & I pay the other 20%. Pleasent Valley is getting an excellent bargin. Please recall the drama with Pawling. After they looked around, tried the two other services, Pawling came back to Alamo.

Richards Ambulance 90s Decker's Ambulance ?? Southern Columbia Ambulance

Somewhere in the Beekman/Alamo thread a person said how hard it is to get people to volunteer. The July issue of JEMS had an editorial on part of the problem is the leadership of volunteer agencies; too this, too that. The county I live in has 13 fire departments, 6 of which have an ambulance, and 2 others who have an EMS rig. There are 3 EMS only agencies. The 3 independent agencies rarely have trouble getting their rig out, and provide some level of ALS (mainly CC, but some P). One of these agencies always has 4 people on their rig and never is short help. The others generally get 3, but sometimes roll with 2. These are poor towns, no money like Dutchess County; small, only one township is over 1000 people. Yet when you call 911, these folks staff the rig & roll it, whether it is to the nursing home, State prison (medium security) or community college. The one fire/EMS agency that has mutual aid with a commercial agency has problems getting the rig staffed. They have the volunteers, but they don't come out except for the "BIG ONE". The other fire based EMS units have problems getting people to join the EMS part of the FD. What I would like to see is responses from volunteers. What made you join? Why do you stay? What would make you quit volunteering? And, any thoughts on how to get more volunteers? Thanx in advance for your thoughts & ideas.

It is good that Chris192 wrote to his elected reps, everyone who lives in Putanm should do the same. You also need to make it know to these people that you will not vote for them if they don't produce results before the election. And if they don't, vote them out. That is what major lobbiest such as the NRA, AARP, & Planned Parenthood (to mention afew) do. They also get on the phones to their members and urge them to call, they also provide a boiler plate letter (not that I have ever been involved in such things) do. They keep the pressure on, and they make it public. They also follow through on voting out those who disagree with them. Good luck. Communities across the State are watching this & awaiting the outcome.

If the legislature is going to put this in the taxpayers lap by having theem vote on it, then the burden is on the EMS providers of Ptnam to educate the voters; and do it like has never been done before fore: full page adds, TV & radio spots, billboards and public meetings. This move could be a Godsend. Here is an opportunity to get our message out in an acceptable format and we get to frame the debate.

Soft or Hard billing? A soft bill is what we call it when the agency does not go to collections for a bill after the 3 letters have been sent. This is leagal in NYS. Many vollunter agencies do this, as do some municipalities. Hard billing is when the unpaid part of the bill is sent to collections. I do not know what the commercial providers do in Dutches, Putnam & Ulster. I was very surprised to find that the Town of Colonie EMS does do hard billing AND is a tax district AND is municpal. They also bill for ALS if the call was dispatched as ALS, even if it goes BLS. I am sure that what Colonie is doing is leagal. What the other agencies need to do is be consistant: if you write off those who don't pay the co-pay after 3 bills for 1 person, you do it for all. If you send 1 bill to collections, you do it for all, other wise, aas was said before it is Medicare fraud. Hope this helps.

I am glad that I live much further north than Putnam, but the issue isn't just in Putnam County, it is all over. EMS costs $$$. Taxpayers are in near revolt now due to unfunded mandates. Some peole have said some good ideas: go to the next meeting, make sure it is on the agenda (at least in my hill billy town if they tried that they would be run out of town.). Sit down with some of your county reps before the meeting & talk to them. This called lobbying. It can be something as informal as a sit down at the local coffee shop, or a meeting in their office with a group of EMS persnal. You should bring some fire also as fire has much more clout than EMS in most areas. Good Luck.

Right, no photo ID,a badge should be meaningless. After 9/11 I would hope that all agencies would issue a photo ID. My vollie does, as do the commercial agencies in Dutchess. Interestingly, I don't recall if the municple agencies issue a photo ID, of course, when you arive on Big Red, it sorta negates the need for a photo ID.

alsfirefighter has some good points, and a few worth exploring more. Do you have a PA or a nurse available to you in your home 24/7? Yup, inmates have this, and a doc on call 24/7. But for whatever reason, they end up going out with Alamo starting IVs, giving meds and such. But that is a question for our State elected leaders. comment of not sending the closest unit and not to offend anyone who's made a comment to this effect, but how are you leaving yourself wide open for a lawsuit when there are many agencies who do not respond to calls for inmates. Not the closest unit, but most appropreate unit for the call. If it is a P-1 or 2, that means the Beekman unit. As far as a lawsuit, as I posted earlier, the 14th Amendment garuntees all equal protection. Has anyone thought of it yet? Nope, thank God. But someone will, then what? If the Town of Beekman will assume liablity, that is their issue. I would be surprised if Alamo's mouthpiece would allow them to. Why is "adequate healthcare" considered being transported all the way to Mt. Vernon Hospital being they have a state contract for inmates? Sorry, if that is what you think is happening when they call 9-1-1. It is not. If they call 9-1-1 the patient goes to Putnam, Vasser, St. Francis or St. Lukes (from the Dutchess Co. prisions). Even if the COs want other wise. Those going to Mt. Vernon are non emergency transports and I have never heard of one coming in as a 9-1-1 call. Or how about the nursing home in Putnam (Patterson I believe it is in) I got sent to from Fishkill for chest pain? I hve no clue. Since you were with Alamo that day, did you ask? As far as being glad about having a jail and the jobs. Support jobs I'm sure are there but as far as CO's the state DOC can send you anywhere when you get hired. This was years ago. As I said, Beekman has out grown the need for prison jobs. I don't know where the 19,000 for an EMT comes from I think someone (the Cheif?) posted that Beekman pays nearly that per month, but don't quote me.

Just a few thoughts on this topic: 1) in other parts of the state where there is no commercial EMS, who goes in when an inmate gets shanked? The vollies. 2) Years ago when Beekman was just a farm town, the town's leaders were glad to have a prison there as it meant jobs and tax money. Now that Beekman has grown past those days, it seams that some want the prison and the responsibilties that go with to go 3) Has anyone every heard of the 14th Amendment? Equal protection under the law. I would hate to see someone bring a Federal Civil Rights suit because Alamo or Beekman didn't send the unit assigned to Beekman for a cardiac or other P-1 or 2 call. 4) I have noticed 2 things (with no scientific research to back me up) about rolling the rig: EMS agencies generally roll more often than combined fire/EMS (you call, we haul) and those without commercial back up roll more often than those with commercial back up (no cherry picking). This apply to vollie agencies only.

I have nothing for or against the badges; my vollie squad awards every new EMT with a badge, but I do have a piece of trivia that I have not seen posted: Why do firefighters in NY state have badges? In the 1860s (or so) when there were fights at fire scenes, NY state passed a law that all firefighters had to have a badge for identifcaion purposes. Hence, fire carries a badge. An other piece of trivia: what badge do NYS Troops wear?