By Jessica Beym
The Gloucester County Times
WASHINGTON TWP., N.J. — In the past five years since the Washington Township Ambulance and Rescue Association switched from a volunteer squad to a paid staff, it’s had to find ways to bring in revenue to support their services.
One of those is a subscription drive, which the association plans to kick off in the coming weeks.
While the drive only brings in about 8 percent of the association’s $1.3 million budget, every little bit helps, said board member Dominick Mazzitelli.
Letters will soon be going out to businesses and homeowners of the township asking for donations of anywhere from $50 to $100. The paid subscription, as Mazzitelli described it, will allow the ambulance association to waive the co-pay fees that someone would normally have to pay through their insurance company if they ever need the EMS services.
“It’s like a membership,” he said. “If you’re a subscription member, we wave the deductible and co-pays if you ever need it. It also helps us cover those that don’t have any insurance at all.”
The majority of the EMS services are paid for by collecting money from insurance companies, Mazzitelli explained.
The major expenses of the squad are payroll, insurance and benefits. But they also have to pay for equipment, maintenance, and vehicles, such as a new $125,000 ambulance that is expected to be delivered in February.
The squad currently has four ambulances, two command vehicles and an antique ’64 Pontiac that’s used for show in parades. Mazzitelli said they also plan to sell one of the command vehicles soon.
The squad used to be all-volunteer, but it became too difficult to get people on duty during the day shifts, explained Joan Woody, co-chair of the Washington Township Ambulance and Rescue Association.
“Over the years it became harder and harder to get volunteers and time is of the essence when someone is sick or worse - is having a heart attack,” Woody said.
Since 2004, they’ve been operating around the clock with 17 full-time employees and 16 part-time employees, plus supervisors.
Two, two-man crews are on call 24/7. That consists of two certified EMTs, plus a supervisor.
In 2009, the squad had almost 4,400 calls. The need for emergency services has grown over the years as the township’s population expanded.
When the EMS services was all-volunteer, the township gave a donation to help fund it.
Woody said every little bit of money raised through the subscription drive helps.
“We really do need it,” Woody said. “The problem is, everybody thinks we’re connected to the county and that we get some kind of tax dollar, and we get nothing. Everything we do, we do ourselves and we own everything.”
Mazzitelli agreed, saying the drive “helps keep us even.”
“I think if it wasn’t for the subscription drive, we would probably be in the hole. We’d be in the red every year.”
Letters for the subscription drive will be going out the second week of this month.
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