By Dorothy Long
The Post-Standard (Syracuse, New York)
Copyright 2006 Post-Standard
All Rights Reserved
Since 1968, the Four Town First Aid Squad has been there when people in southern Cayuga County need help.
But the times have caught up with the small, mostly volunteer ambulance squad and now it needs the help of the people it serves.
The company needs both volunteers and money, Capt. Jason Withers said. And it needs them as soon as possible.
For decades, Four Town survived on donations and fundraising events. But by the mid 1990s, they began billing insurance companies and state and federal health providing agencies, especially Medicaid and Medicare.
Withers said the ambulance squad restricts its billings to those agencies and doesn’t try to collect deductibles from individuals. Nor do they collect tax dollars like fire districts do.
That will have to change, Withers said, if the people of the area are going to continue to have a local, first-response ambulance corps.
Last year, the operating budget was about $250,000. In 2005, Four Town suffered a $70,000 loss, according to the letter sent to area residents in a recent fundraising drive.
“Right now we have nine months of operating capital left,” Withers said.
“We have been meeting with the towns and village looking for help,” he said. “Everybody has been receptive so far. They don’t want to lose an ambulance that comes in five minutes, rather than 30, when every minute counts.”
Locke Supervisor Jean James said Four Town representatives talked to her and other town officials about needing more money and the town is eager to support them.
“They have our full support,” she said. “The board is in agreement. We value their service and don’t want anything to happen to them.”
Locke has increased the amount in the budget every year, she said. This year they budgeted $4,000 and intend to increase their donation to $4,200.
Moravia Mayor Don Myers said the village always has supported the work of Four Town. The volunteer departments are necessary in rural communities, he said.
“As their money problems become more known, I think people are going to support them,” he said.
Without Four Town, Withers said, people in the towns served would have to wait for an ambulance for either Cortland or Auburn.
When Four Town responds to a call, they take the person wherever he or she wants to go, usually Cortland, Auburn or Ithaca Hospital - although many times a trip is made to a Syracuse hospital.
“Of course if it life-threatening, we go to the closest hospital,” Withers said.
When necessary, a Mercy Flight helicopter is called. Earlier this month, one was called when a man was run over by a tractor on Glen Cove Road in New Hope, Withers said.
In addition, the squad often goes on standby when fire departments in the area are on a call, in case a volunteer firefighter or someone else is injured.
The ambulance squad was formed as part of Three Town Fire Department on Nov. 1, 1968.
By the mid-70s, it was a separate nonprofit organization serving the four towns of Moravia, Locke, Sempronius and Niles. Since that time the New Hope Fire District in the town of Niles and the town of Summerhill have joined.
The squad has three ambulances and a Medicar first-response vehicle. A medic and a driver are always on duty. Other volunteers are on call. There are 35 active volunteers, including the paid employees.
Four Town responded to 670 calls last year, Withers said, and he expects to exceed that in 2006.
What they will likely do, Withers said, is to contract with the towns where it operates.
“We are putting feelers out right now. This is all new to us. We have always been fortunate. But everything seems to go up. But the paychecks don’t and the guy who used to send us $100 five years ago is now sending $20.”
Although it will cost taxpayers a little, it will be cheaper than paying a for-profit company, and it will keep the response time down, he said.
Although Four Town owns its building, the squad still has to pay for supplies, insurance, fuel, utilities and other expenses that are constantly going up.
When the state built Cayuga Correctional Facility in Moravia, Four Town contracted to provide emergency first aid to inmates so the local taxpayers would not be supporting that, Withers said.
But money isn’t the only thing they need, Withers said. “We are having problems with recruitment, like any other volunteer organization. The fire departments are having problems and first aid is even harder because you have more time training.”
Four years ago, Four Town went from being all-volunteer to hiring paramedics. They now have seven paid paramedics on staff, Withers said.
Withers said he joined in 2000 and has been captain for two years. Many of the more recent volunteers are new to the village, he said.
In addition to recruiting volunteers, Withers said, they are trying to build up the Junior Corps. The members of the Junior Corps are between ages 14 and 18. In the past it was much larger, but for a while membership dropped to only one member. Now there are three junior members.
“They learn first aid and CPR. They ride in the ambulance and when they are 18, they can go on to more training,” Withers said. “We are trying to build the Junior Corps up because they are going to be the future of Four Town.”
This kind of work isn’t for everyone, Withers said. “You have got to have the stomach for it. Not everybody can do it and not everybody should.”
The shortage of volunteers doesn’t change the quality of care people get, he said.
Withers feels Four Town is the best at what it does in the entire region.
“We have top-notch people,” he said. “And that makes it easier. When you know you have a top-notch paramedic and a great driver to get you to the hospital fast and safely, you can do what you need to do.”
To Help
For donations, or more information about volunteering for the Four Town First Aid Squad, call Capt. Jason Withers at 497-3215.