One month after making its first public statement, the Wellsville
Volunteer Ambulance Corps (WVAC) is on track to begin a limited paid staffing
program on Monday (April 2). In late February, Wellsville Regional News (WRN)
was invited to sit down with members of the WVAC's Research and Planning
committee, who explained this bold new initiative. The ambulance corps has
contracted with E5 Support Services based in Queensbury, NY. That company last
week interviewed people to provide service to Wellsville. Brad Field, Becky
Sutton, John Fleischman and Jim Franklin were hired by the company, confirmed Committee
Chair Andrew Sweezy. Each new hire is either a paramedic or critical care technician. The group will rotate shifts Monday-Friday between 4 a.m.
and 4 p.m. They will be paid employees of E5. The committee stressed, the
policy is not designed to shun current volunteers. A committee member said if a
volunteer EMT or medic shows up weekdays, the paid staff will stand down and
remain available for additional calls. The purpose of the move is to guarantee
a trained provider is available during critical weekday hours, which the Corps
hopes will enhance both care and response times. The ambulance corps has signed
a contract with E5 to provide staffing for the remainder of 2018. The new staff will be stationed at the ambulance corps building on South Main Street.
The WVAC will hold quarterly meetings with the staffing
company to review response times and iron out issues. The team said E5 will
handle payroll, paperwork and training for both paid staff and volunteers.
The committee readily admits this plan is no silver bullet.
There will still be multiple calls at once and gaps, but the members were
passionate that the organization "had to do something." Members
stopped short of calling the current situation a crisis, but serious concern was
readily evident. The proud agency, once
known for having 60 second responses times and waiting lists for duty shifts,
has fallen victim to modern times - as most have.
