Clarkson Town Board members may decide as early as Tuesday, November 12 on whether to return to Brockport Volunteer Ambulance Corps (BVAC) as the town’s primary responder.
On August 13, board members voted unanimously to terminate their contract with Monroe Ambulance as primary responder and set November 15 as the deadline by which the town and the BVAC had to come to a contract agreement.
BVAC President David Rice says the Brockport Ambulance has met three or four times with the town and provided board members with a written business proposal as part of the contract negotiations. He said negotiations will wrap up at the November 12 regular meeting of the Clarkson Town Board.
Rice tells the Suburban News and Hamlin-Clarkson Herald that members of the BVAC have focused on the benefits of a community-based ambulance service as well as information regarding the current financial position of the BVAC and projections for its financial position in 2014 during negotiations.
Since negotiations began, Rice says the focus of interest of Town Board members has shifted from current call coverage numbers to “looking at other elements … financial projections … and whether or not we are a viable business entity.”
He notes that 2013 has seen a substantial increase in call volume for the BVAC with new requests for service coming from the recently opened Strong West facility and the also from Beikirch Care Center.
“As of the end of October we had seen a 15 percent increase in total call volume,” Rice says. “We’ve answered 311 more calls to date than we did last year and have had an influx of new volunteers.”
So far this year, there have been 873 requests for service, he says.
“It speaks highly of the people who are out there answering calls and everybody who is making a contribution,” Rice says.
BVAC Board member Robin Waller says the community feels comfortable with Brockport Ambulance. “They know us and trust us. Our first priority is our neighbors,” she says.
“We are passionate about what we do,” says BVAC EMS Chief Lucas VanDervort.
“Our service is top notch. We are part of what’s (going on in the community). We do what we do for the betterment of the community.”
He notes that response times for the BVAC are under five minutes – three minutes faster than national standards.
The goal of the BVAC is to service the community with the highest level of emergency care possible, VanDervort says.
“And we are not going away,” he adds, no matter what decision the Clarkson Town Board makes regarding the town’s primary responder.
“Our responsibility is to the Clarkson/Sweden/Brockport community and we will go forward regardless of what happens,” VanDervort says.
David Rice reminds community residents that they can let their town board representatives know that they are pleased with the service provided by the BVAC and that they want BVAC as primary ambulance responder.
11/10/13
