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CROTON-ON-HUDSON, N.Y. The Croton Volunteer Ambulance Corps is preparing a proposal to hire a paid EMT 24 hours a day, seven days a week. This is in addition to a paid EMT working at CVAC since July, as a stop-gap measure for poor response times.
It all has to do with response times, when we have the paid EMT on during the day, our average response time is about six minutes. At night the average response time goes up to 11 to 12 minutes, thats nights and weekends. When we go to mutual aid the response time goes to 20 to 25 minutes, so what weve seen since we had this one individual working since June, our response times are half of what they would be at night, said village of Croton Emergency Services Manager, Dick Nagle.
Despite a $16,500 recruitment budget given to CVAC by the village, recruitment remains low. Even if a raft of volunteers were to respond to recruitment calls, it can still take up to six months for volunteers to be trained as EMTs, according to Nagle.
Its a 180 hour course, and that can take sometimes up to six months, so just because we bring somebody in the door right now doesnt mean we have a brand new EMT, he said.
A marketing plan, using the $16,500 budget provided by the village, is still beign drafted. Mark Dickey, First Lieutenant of Croton EMS said he expects the plan to be presented to the CVAC membership soon.
All of the volunteer organizations in the area are facing the same battle, said Kathy Stewart, President of the Cortlandt Volunteer Ambulance Corps, Weve tried many different incentive programs for our members, the retirement program, free training, things of that nature to try to recruit and retain members. Its just not easy with peoples schedules these days. It becomes more and more difficult to attract any kind of member.
Stewart said she has about 50 active members in her organization. Dickey said that the active EMT membership rolls remain at somewhere between 12 and 15 members, answering over 700 calls per year, in conjunction with Crotons paid EMT.
The village is currently seeking bids for an EMT, from neighboring ambulance companies. The current EMT is paid $16.92 per hour, and works Monday through Friday, from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.
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