Volunteer shortage reaching critical level

Life is busy. Jobs are demanding. Families are full-time. People have so much to do it’s a wonder that anyone can manage to volunteer his or her time for any given cause. But miraculously, some do. Still, volunteer services, such as our local emergency medical services (EMS), which respond to medical emergencies day and night and help keep our communities healthy and safe, have been feeling the pinch.

They need volunteers, and they need them badly.

The story is the same regardless of which rescue squads you survey: Pine Plains, Millerton, Amenia, Wassaic or Stanfordville, for example. That’s why the fire departments and rescue squads in those communities have united to tackle the problem. A group of fire commissioners, town supervisors and members of these rescue squads (all of which are 100-percent volunteer) has been meeting since the start of the year. It’s come up with two solutions.

The first — get more volunteers. This would be best. It would depend on you, who live and work in the Harlem Valley, to donate your free time (what little you have of it) to train and then be on call as an EMT (emergency medical technician). It’s a big sacrifice with the reward being the gratitude of those you’ve helped and the knowledge that you’re doing good deeds every time you don your uniform.

That’s what volunteering is all about — altruism. And that needs to be enough. If that sounds like it could be up your alley, please, contact your local fire department or EMS and find out more about how to become a member of the rescue squad. It’s in dire need of your help and even a couple of new members would make a difference in its ability to function properly.

The second option that has been thrashed out is hiring a paid service to provide coverage for all of the participating fire districts in the discussion group — which promises to be a much more costly arrangement. As of this moment the exact price is not known, and Pine Plains town Supervisor Gregg Pulver is investigating the matter, but rest assured it will be high. Paid ambulance coverage does not come cheap, which is why individual municipalities around here opt to continue with their volunteer squads. To change over would place a big burden on taxpayers, as well as on the patient who would be charged with the cost of the ambulance call, which could run into the hundreds of dollars.

The reality is volunteer squads are facing hard times. Volunteerism is not on everybody’s priority list these days, but there are many reasons why we hope people will give it serious thought. There’s the good it will do for the community, the good it will do for those in need, the good it will do for the EMS volunteer base and the good it will do for one’s soul. If nothing else, give it a thought. Our communities’ EMTs work hard for us and deserve our thanks and respect; the job they volunteer to do isn’t easy but they willingly do it to benefit their neighbors. If you’re interested in doing the same, there’s little doubt you would be welcome at your local firehouse. Why not take a few minutes to place a call and learn more about it? Your local fire department’s number is likely listed in the phone book, at your town hall, on your town’s Web site or on its own Web site. The call could be a lifesaver, if not for you for others, now and in the future.