Vehicle purchase and hiring was needed

Dear Editor,

I am writing this letter not only as a Volunteer Emergency Medical Technician and a Village taxpayer for 33 years, but also a citizen of the Village that wants to present the true facts.

Yes, there have been full time employees added to the Village payroll. There has been two full-time medical staff added to the payroll to help cover daytime Emergency Medical Services. These were previously subcontracted from a local ambulance service. By directly employing this staff, the Village is projecting to save $40,000 to $45,000 per year. The original projections were developed by Squad members in conjunction with the Village Clerk. Additionally, this medical staff is funded by money that is received from a trust fund and not by tax dollars. This idea was presented to a previous administration and they did not adopt this approach. Doesn’t it seem fiscally responsible to add employees if that much money will be saved?

Yes, the Village has ordered a replacement ambulance. The facts are as follows:

1) The Squad is handling over 2,000 calls per year; 2) Between 3 ambulances, they accumulate 61,000 miles per year and that number is continuing to rise each year; 3) The newest ambulance is a 2006 with 62,045 miles; 4) The next oldest ambulance is a 2001 with 198,420 miles; 5) The oldest ambulance is a 1999 with 214,902 miles; 6) The first response vehicle has 96,543 miles.

One might want to ask these questions: "How many miles are on my personal vehicle, and is my vehicle used to save peoples’ lives? Previous administrations had refused to authorize the purchase of a replacement vehicle in an effort to save money.

After reading a candidate’s letter to the editor last week, I see a lot of items that he is complaining about, but I haven’t seen anything constructive or concrete that he and his party are going to accomplish.

Sincerely,

Kevin R. Cumm

Taxpayer and Volunteer EMT-I

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