Volunteers needed for local rescue squad

PINE PLAINS — The Pine Plains Rescue Squad, a 100 percent volunteer organization that has been providing emergency medical services for the community for more than 50 years, is sending out an ABP. It needs more volunteers, and soon.

This isn’t an isolated case. The fire departments from Millerton, Amenia, Wassaic, Pine Plains and Stanfordville have all been discussing the shortage in Emergency Medical Technician (EMT) volunteers.

A group of fire commissioners, town supervisors and members of the local rescue squads has been meeting since January, and as Pine Plains Rescue Squad Captain Mike Autenrieth acknowledged, there are basically two options: finding more volunteers or hiring some form of a paid service, which would cost taxpayers much more money.

The group, which is headed informally by Pine Plains town Supervisor Gregg Pulver, is still working toward trying to come up with a cost estimate for a paid service, to be shared between the various fire districts to offset costs.

The Pine Plains squad is determined to tackle the volunteer problem head on. The current rescue squad consists of only eight active volunteers serving a community of over 1,500 people. Yet as the squad acknowledged, it would only take another 10 squad members to solve many of its problems.

The current lack of volunteers has resulted in a decrease in the volunteer squad’s responses to emergency calls, which means the community is relying more and more on costly paid advance life support services, with slower response times and increased financial burdens on the patients and their families.

For example, the cost of an ambulance ride from the Pine Plains Rescue Squad is free for the patient (covered by the town’s budget) but when a paid service is called in the individual is responsible for those costs, which quickly reach hundreds of dollars.

The squad reports that there are approximately two EMS calls to every one fire call, yet local fire departments are not faced with the same volunteer shortage problems.

But, as Autenrieth and his crew pointed out, there are many advantages to joining the rescue squad.

“It’s a worthwhile education,†he said, adding that the town covers the cost for that education, “and there are all sorts of opportunities.â€

The skills learned while volunteering can easily transfer to a paid position with Northern Dutchess Paramedics (NDP) or other paid response units, and Autenrieth added that it’s possible to volunteer and work with a paid service at the same time. Even a rollover program, where students coming out of high school could utilize the free training the town offered for a year or two before getting into the paid business, would be a welcome alternative for the squad.

Being an EMT often isn’t as physically demanding as fire fighting, meaning a wider age range of residents could volunteer. And while EMTs are required to be recertified every few years (firefighters aren’t), Autenrieth said recertification classes are much less demanding than the initial courses.

But most of all, the squad members agreed, the true rewards of being an EMT are the thank you cards that the squad receives in the mail every month after responding to a call, or the gratitude of a neighbor after an emergency.

“The pay is not in your pocket, it’s in your heart,†explained EMT driver Jan Stoutenburgh.

The town of Milan, facing similar problems, has already installed signs looking for volunteers around the town. Jon DePreter, DePreter Designs, is working on some new designs to catch the eye of potential volunteers in Pine Plains.

Anyone interested in volunteering for the Pine Plains Rescue Squad can contact Autenrieth at 845-249-3581 or at ranger_mike231@yahoo.com.