Long Valley First Aid Squad Needs Funds for Training, Education

The Long Valley First Aid Squad is looking to balance its budget amid recent developments that state aid and reimbursement for EMS training will no longer be offered to volunteer emergency medical technicians.

The squad reviewed its 2011 budget with the Washington Township Committee at a special meeting on Tuesday, Feb. 15.

Washington Township is not alone in what Vice Mayor James Harmon called a “state-wide problem,” but is trying to do its best to help the First Aid Squad train new members, all while keeping the current volunteers certified.

The ability for the First Aid Squad to have the township’s aid while developing a separate budget for training and education will be very helpful to the financial well-being of the organization, which had to incur costs in 2010 for training that were not included in last year’s budget.

“Last year, we did have to kind of scrape through, because we didn’t have an official training budget,” said First Aid Squad Chief Hagan Sniffen. “We got by, we had courses, but this year we have to have many of these major courses, because certifications are expiring.”

If EMTs go too long without taking classes to renew their certifications, it could result in having their certifications taken away.

“The state requires us to have certain classes; we haven’t had to have a refresher course yet—that’s coming—but there are certain classes that are essential, and they cost a certain amount of money per person,” said Sniffen. “This is training that we need to keep up on, but that costs $150 per person plus to train people in the class. If we have to pay that amount for 35 people, that’s a significant amount of money.”

Ideally, Sniffen would like to set aside $6,500 for training and education for each of the next two years, before increasing that number to $7,000 per year for 2013 through 2015.

“This is a recurring cost that’s going to happen,” said Sniffen. “When we get to the point where we have to start re-certifying people, that’s another added cost.”

The First Aid Squad is also looking to replace its oldest ambulance, Ambulance 38-53, which was manufactured in 2000 and has roughly 62,000 miles on it currently.

The ambulance has had problems staying on the road; twice in 2010, it broke down in the middle of emergency situations, forcing the First Aid Squad to scramble to get patients transported to hospitals, and then go with one fewer ambulance—sometimes for weeks at a time.

“(We’ve had) two instances now where we’ve had very sick people, and we couldn’t complete the job,” said Sniffen.

Sniffen acknowledges that, if his squad does receive funding for a new ambulance, it will still take time for a new vehicle to be assembled. This makes it even more important for manufacturing to begin as soon as possible; the sooner a new ambulance is built, the sooner it can replace the aging model.

“If it does get replaced or approved for replacement this year, it will be almost twelve years old by the time it gets built,” said Sniffen.