Chester NY Volunteer Ambulance shutdown

[EMT111 149]

As of 14:00 hours today, the Chester Volunteer Ambulance Corps has been indefinitely shut down by the town of Chester supervisor and Mobile Life has been contracted to provide a rig to cover calls in the Chester district.

[JM15 386]

Reason?

[87D124 37]

.

Edited January 18, 2014 by 87D124

[87D124 37]

Soon, the Town will realize the HUGE MISTAKE that they made by shutting down Chester VAC & giving the business to MLSS.

[87D124 37]

MLSS has been known to not be a friend of the volunteer agencies.

Edited January 16, 2014 by 87D124

[EMT111 149]

MLSS has been known to participate in anti-volunteer activities.

Not sure what you're talking about, I've never heard a complaint about the company itself.

[87D124 37]

EMT111,

Ask around and you will find out.

[87D124 37]

The Town should have met with the officers and members of CVAC and tried to work on the problems, instead of having a secret closed door meeting with MLSS. How come none of this was talked about at public meetings?

[FFEMT150 214]

MLSS has been known to not be a friend of the volunteer agencies.

I worked with MLSS as a volunteer in dutchess county and found their crews to be outstanding. Never a single issue with them.

[87D124 37]

There "crews" are not the issue. It is the upper management. I never had a problem or an issue any of the staff out on the field.

[FFEMT150 214]

There "crews" are not the issue. It is the upper management. I never had a problem or an issue any of the staff out on the field.

Ah, I see. You did not specify in your other post. Can you give examples? I'm not saying you're wrong or trying to argue with you. Just interested.

[Ga-Lin 86]

MLSS has been known to not be a friend of the volunteer agencies.

MLSS is a private company in the business of makeing money. While they might not be overly friendly to the volunteer system neither are they the out & out enemy either. They are a large employer of people in the Hudson Valley who, by all accounts, are good and fair to their employees most of he time), benifits etc (pay could be a little bit better but they are in the range of other commercial services within the region). It has been my experience that most VACs are certainly capable of screwing things up on their own without outside interference. Case in point NWVAC and more recently, Corona VAC in Queens

[87D124 37]

Are you not aware that NWVAC is one of the top agencies in Orange County? Yeah, they got shut down by a former Town Supervisor, but I bet that you did not know that there were secret meetings between MLSS Management & the Town Supervisor. The day before NWVAC was shut down, there was a meeting between the NWVAC Chief & Supervisor about NWVAC getting their own medics. Well, MLSS was contacted by the Town Supervisor and asked how much they would charge the town to provide ambulance service. That number was a lot lower than NWVACs number, so the next day, the MLSS Administration had an off site meeting with the Town Supervisor. Next thing you know, NWVAC gets shut down and MLSS takes over EMS for the town.

In the end.........NWVAC came back, better than ever.....and the Town Supervisor was voted out of office.

[Ga-Lin 86]

Are you not aware that NWVAC is one of the top agencies in Orange County? Yeah, they got shut down by a former Town Supervisor, but I bet that you did not know that there were secret meetings between MLSS Management & the Town Supervisor. The day before NWVAC was shut down, there was a meeting between the NWVAC Chief & Supervisor about NWVAC getting their own medics. Well, MLSS was contacted by the Town Supervisor and asked how much they would charge the town to provide ambulance service. That number was a lot lower than NWVACs number, so the next day, the MLSS Administration had an off site meeting with the Town Supervisor. Next thing you know, NWVAC gets shut down and MLSS takes over EMS for the town. In the end.........NWVAC came back, better than ever.....and the Town Supervisor was voted out of office.

Yes I did know. All you say is absolutly true They are, for all I can see, a top EMS agency, now. I always see ads in the paper offering CPR & first aid classes to their community. As you mentioned MLSS was INVITED in by the then town supervisor. He did this after a rather long peiod of time of NWVAC not being able to ans their calls due to problems with riding membership. After a, again, long period of trying to work with them he did the only thing a responsible official could do, he called in someone who would take care off his citizens. It wasn't until AFTER this happened that NWVAC reorganized, restructed & yes retaliated, making him out to be the bad guy. He was indeed defeated & voted out of office in the next election. I can't help but to appalud his courage, He had to know that it was going to cost him. Today NWVAC, an outstanding organization, is a model for others to follow and an example of what can be done. It's just a shame that the events had to go the way they did in order to bring it to pass.

[BFD1054 1,552]

I'm no longer involved in EMS and know nothing about the Chester situation. Obviously it's unfortunate when a VAC is shut down, but there must be valid reasons, no?

Either way, I'm just happy to see that there is EMS coverge still being provided to the community.

Some people may not like it or have bruised egos and hurt feelings, but so be it. At least coverage is being provided. If I needed an ambulance, I'd expect one to show up in a timely manner. Having an MLSS rig there would certainly increase the chances of getting an ambulance to an emergency in a reasonable response time.

[87D124 37]

I would like to know why this was not brought up at a Town Board meeting, in front of the public. Why wasn't EMStar Ambulance Service considered as a provider for Chester? EMStar is a large multi state company with more resources than any of the other providers in our area.

EMStar was already servicing the Town of Chester for ALS and for BLS mutual aid when Chester VAC could not get a crew for a call. Also, up until recently EMStar was providing the daytime staff for Chester. For one reason or another, EMStar is no longer providing the daytime staff, but that does not negate the fact that EMStar has been servicing the Town of Chester already.

I guess MLSS came into the Town Supervisor's office for a secret meeting and brought some nice Irish Whiskey, some imported cigars and a few free games of golf at a local country club. There was no recent relationship between the Town of Chester and MLSS, so in order for MLSS to even be considered, they must have come forward with something sweet for the Town Supervisor. MLSS works behind the scenes and thru backdoor deals.

Back when Chester VAC wanted to dump MLSS in favor of Regional as the ALS provider for Chester, MLSS admins came and met with the Town Supervisor for a secret meeting. The Town Supervisor never even told the rest of the Town Board about the meeting or what was discussed until the next meeting happened. At the next meeting with the Town, the Town Supervisor blindsided Chester VAC & the rest of the Town Board when he brought up information from the meeting and spoke in favor of keeping MLSS.

In the end, after some long and heated discussions between the Town Board & CVAC, the right choice was finally made.....and that was to get rid of MLSS as the ALS provider for the Town.

[16fire5 693]

If the town found reason that the ambulance service needed to be shut down either temporarilty or permanently then it would be entirely appropriate with them to meet with providers to ensure that coverage was continued in at least the interm. Mobile Life is a well established commercial service with a long track record. They have an continue to provide service like that Chester has secured. If I was a town in Orange County needing stop gap ambulance coverage they would be the top of my list. Meetings for professional services on the municipal level are rarely negotiated in open regular board meeting so that too is perfectly understandable. What has been refered to as secret can easily be looked at as proper "closed" door negotiations. I have personally been tasked with hiring professional services for a town and I met with companys in this format.

As for the shutting of the agency again it would appear that most reasons that would warrant this type of action would allow the board to deliberate and make such determinations in executive session.

[87D124 37]

As a show of support for Chester Ambulance, all of the VACs in Orange County should band together and show up at the next Chester Town Board Meeting. This will show Supervisor Jamieson that shutting down was a mistake and that CVAC has a lot of support from the EMS Community. Every VAC should bring as many EMS vehicles that they can afford to bring, with as many as members as possible, in uniform, to the next meeting. Fill up the parking lot at he Town Hall with ambulances and fly cars and park out on the road if needed. Pack the meeting room with as many people as possible. If the room gets too full, then we stand outside in the lobby or outside of the building itself.

Lets get all the support together for CVAC and help them get put back in service.

[246EMT58 7]

Show support...? Nothing has been said yet as far as reasons for the shutdown...but I think when something as drastic as this happens isn't a shutdown usually appropriate at least while allegations are sorted out? If the 100k debt is true then mismanagement would be part of the problem/cause. Hypothetically of course if this rumor turns out to be accurate I wouldnt want an organization like this in my community. I've been honored to learn while working alongside MLSS crews, how they manage their business contracts is irrelevant. MLSS is a professional organization that's been serving this area for a long time....and it's because they have a history and reputation for employing professionals.....plus they've held the same name since the beginning, I like that. :-). I like your enthusiasm but I'll wait to show my support until things have been aired and everyone publicly cleared.

[Ga-Lin 86]

As a show of support for Chester Ambulance, all of the VACs in Orange County should band together and show up at the next Chester Town Board Meeting. This will show Supervisor Jamieson that shutting down was a mistake and that CVAC has a lot of support from the EMS Community. Every VAC should bring as many EMS vehicles that they can afford to bring, with as many as members as possible, in uniform, to the next meeting. Fill up the parking lot at he Town Hall with ambulances and fly cars and park out on the road if needed. Pack the meeting room with as many people as possible. If the room gets too full, then we stand outside in the lobby or outside of the building itself. Lets get all the support together for CVAC and help them get put back in service.

As a non resident I don't believe you have any standing to say anything. It's likly that you wouldn't even be permitted to attend a Town of Chester meeting. And pardon me for saying, but it sounds like you have a real hard *n for this MLSS and an unrelistic/unsupported/unsupportable belief in CVAC simply because they happen to be a VAC! Please! Remember Corona VAC in Queens. I say lets wait and see how this develops. Maybe the leadership really knows what they are doing and didn't banrupt the organization. Anything is possible.

[21Truck 8]

Sounds like some people are butt hurt about this who have nothing to do with the agency. Is it a shame that this happens to a Volunteer agency? Yes it is but they are still receiving ambulance service. The residents of that ambulance district do not care who the ambulance company is as long as one shows up when they are requested. All that is going on right now is speculation as to why they were shut down so really no one has anything to say until it is made public. Maybe everyone forgot a few years ago the careless spending of the agency? Maybe it caught up to them finally. Maybe they were unable to crew more often then not. There has always been issues there. And it's not just them but it happens to every agency, Fire and EMS. So instead of poking around and saying back door deals of who is the ambulance company serving Chester or speculating what happened, why don't people just wait until it is made public and get the true story. All it does is stir the pot for no reason because some people feel the need to just start issues without knowing facts

[201/65 94]

http://chroniclenewspaper.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=%2F20140116%2FNEWS01%2F140119958%2F-1%2FNEWS%2FChester-fires-its-volunteer-ambulance-corps

[fireguy43 35]

I would like to know why this was not brought up at a Town Board meeting, in front of the public. Why wasn't EMStar Ambulance Service considered as a provider for Chester? EMStar is a large multi state company with more resources than any of the other providers in our area. EMStar was already servicing the Town of Chester for ALS and for BLS mutual aid when Chester VAC could not get a crew for a call. Also, up until recently EMStar was providing the daytime staff for Chester. For one reason or another, EMStar is no longer providing the daytime staff, but that does not negate the fact that EMStar has been servicing the Town of Chester already. I guess MLSS came into the Town Supervisor's office for a secret meeting and brought some nice Irish Whiskey, some imported cigars and a few free games of golf at a local country club. There was no recent relationship between the Town of Chester and MLSS, so in order for MLSS to even be considered, they must have come forward with something sweet for the Town Supervisor. MLSS works behind the scenes and thru backdoor deals. Back when Chester VAC wanted to dump MLSS in favor of Regional as the ALS provider for Chester, MLSS admins came and met with the Town Supervisor for a secret meeting. The Town Supervisor never even told the rest of the Town Board about the meeting or what was discussed until the next meeting happened. At the next meeting with the Town, the Town Supervisor blindsided Chester VAC & the rest of the Town Board when he brought up information from the meeting and spoke in favor of keeping MLSS. In the end, after some long and heated discussions between the Town Board & CVAC, the right choice was finally made.....and that was to get rid of MLSS as the ALS provider for the Town.

This is irresponsible and obviously you have some sort of ax to grind against MLSS. Whiskey and cigars? You state that there was no recent relationship between the town and MLSS, but don't they cover Monroe and Goshen? If I'm the Town Supervisor, the logical first call would be the service that covers the towns on either side of me. What a novel thought......the articles in the press allude to slow response times, complaints by town residents, fiscal problems, and a lack of communication with the town board. To represent that this was all a scheme by MLSS or the Town is just ridiculous and apparently baseless. Unbelieveable....

[EMT111 149]

87D124, First of all, the main reason for the shutdown was the financial mismanagement, and really only the financial mismanagement. Chester VAC has other issues in addition to the debt and missing calls. Secondly, Emstar was providing BLS crews for Chester VAC, however, Chester stopped paying their Emstar bill, so Emstar pulled the BLS crews. And yes Emstar is a multi-state company with a lot of resources, but you would never know it. It's getting more and more common to hear them have very long response times to 911 calls, such as coming from Rockland for a call 20 minutes away from the Orange County/Rockland County border in Orange County. Personally, having worked with Emstar many times for ALS intercepts, I will say that most of their crews either Medics or EMTs have yet to impress me. Don't get me wrong, there are Emstar personnel who I think are great and do their job well, but the majority of their staff is less than impressive, including a few who I don't want in my ambulance. And all of these secret meetings you keep talking about with MLSS, you should come down to Emstar territory and listen to some of the stories about how Emstar does business. They will downright lie about anything if they think it'll help Emstar some how. Next you'll be saying that MLSS had secret meetings with Saint Anthony's administration and that's why Saint Anthony's ER now calls MLSS for inter-facility transports. And the reason this didn't really come out until now is that Neuhaus didn't want his name attached to shutting down volunteers while he was running for county Exec., but this has been going on for quite a while.

[newsbuff 286]

Sounds like someone tried to get a job with MLSS, and was rejected...

Take your pot-stirring agenda and bring it elsewhere.

[246EMT58 7]

Kind of funny how one of the officers listed on the CVAC Facebook page(there's 2 separate pages by the way, I like the one showing a uniformed member flashing some gangster signs that's professional) lists herself on her own Facebook page being employed by EMSTAR....rumor is that she works in the billing department. hmmmmm...wait what bill wasn't paid??..and the letter CVAC posted doesn't seem to match the article reported by the chronicle..complaints from how PD, FD and residents. If all allegations are cleared than an apology should be made public but for now I'm glad that the residents AND the other public servants within this community will not have to worry about an ambulance/care rendered. Town of Chester took drastic action and I for one am glad they did rather than continue to look the other way for another 8-9 months...P.S. Congrats to our new County Exec.

[savevolunteers911 0]

Just to set the record straight NWVAC was not shut down because of not answering calls. It was because the Town Supervisor 1 has no respect for females in office and the Chief at that time was one and 2 because he felt due to them having the level of EMT-I that the truck needed 1 on every single call when they went out which was not the case. Shows he must have been wrong because when they came back in service they had the same number of members and made there calls. It was not until later on they hired on some paid staff.

[savevolunteers911 0]

87D124, First of all, the main reason for the shutdown was the financial mismanagement, and really only the financial mismanagement. Chester VAC has other issues in addition to the debt and missing calls. Secondly, Emstar was providing BLS crews for Chester VAC, however, Chester stopped paying their Emstar bill, so Emstar pulled the BLS crews. And yes Emstar is a multi-state company with a lot of resources, but you would never know it. It's getting more and more common to hear them have very long response times to 911 calls, such as coming from Rockland for a call 20 minutes away from the Orange County/Rockland County border in Orange County. Personally, having worked with Emstar many times for ALS intercepts, I will say that most of their crews either Medics or EMTs have yet to impress me. Don't get me wrong, there are Emstar personnel who I think are great and do their job well, but the majority of their staff is less than impressive, including a few who I don't want in my ambulance. And all of these secret meetings you keep talking about with MLSS, you should come down to Emstar territory and listen to some of the stories about how Emstar does business. They will downright lie about anything if they think it'll help Emstar some how. Next you'll be saying that MLSS had secret meetings with Saint Anthony's administration and that's why Saint Anthony's ER now calls MLSS for inter-facility transports. And the reason this didn't really come out until now is that Neuhaus didn't want his name attached to shutting down volunteers while he was running for county Exec., but this has been going on for quite a while.

EMStar has been the back up ALS as well as BLS as far as responding from Rockland to Orange I think I have heard that happen maybe once but atleast they give there correct location and eta when responding. Also I see them all the time at St. Anthony's for transports as well as other hospitals in orange county. The areas they cover seem to love them. Lets see how long MLSS staffs Chester when Chester is not paying for service. Everyone out there knows MLSS does not keep dedicated trucks around long for FREE. It will be the same as other stations.

[Ga-Lin 86]

Just to set the record straight NWVAC was not shut down because of not answering calls. It was because the Town Supervisor 1 has no respect for females in office and the Chief at that time was one and 2 because he felt due to them having the level of EMT-I that the truck needed 1 on every single call when they went out which was not the case. Shows he must have been wrong because when they came back in service they had the same number of members and made there calls. It was not until later on they hired on some paid staff.

Not true. According to NYS DOH EMS if you are an EMT-I service you are considered an advanced agency and, yes, you do need an EMT-I on the call/Ambulance when you respond. As far as I know (despite being an EMS insider but being on the outside of the agency & not being a resident of that town) They lost alot of the members who wanted to go EMT-I, pushed thru the change within their agency and then, overtime, left. New members coming in didn't really want to go thru the extra training, not having many EMT-I's left meant that many calls were dropped. As I stated in a previous post they rebounded, after about a year or more of legal manuvering & are now an example of an effecient well run agency.

[savevolunteers911 0]

Yes MLSS covers Monroe and Goshen but that is as ALS provider and sometimes BLS back up not as primary response they have Volunteers for that and if anyone care to check the reason GOSHEN gets out for all there call as well as TOWN OF NEWBURGH ems it is because MLSS staffs them anywhere from 5-7 days a week and between the hours of 6a-6p. I am not saying this is the wrong thing Volunteers do need help and it is a way to out source staffing needs. At the same time I have also heard that Chester had added paid staff to help cover calls for them and by the sounds on the scanner have been crewing for calls. No matter what I feel Everything should be tried before you close the doors to a Volunteer agency. I also believe Chester VAC owns there equipment and rigs so they may be without a home per say and the Town Supervisor don't want them they are still a DOH certified agency and technically still able to operate.

MLSS is a vary well names company but also maybe you shold look into the debt they are in that noone knows about. The owner of the company has been trying to sell for a few years now but the wants you to buy the company and take the debt with it and they do not own most of there stuff. Why do they keep nice new vehicles because they do not own any of them they lease the and get new to look good. all there stations leased MLSS HQ well they don't own that.

This is irresponsible and obviously you have some sort of ax to grind against MLSS. Whiskey and cigars? You state that there was no recent relationship between the town and MLSS, but don't they cover Monroe and Goshen? If I'm the Town Supervisor, the logical first call would be the service that covers the towns on either side of me. What a novel thought......the articles in the press allude to slow response times, complaints by town residents, fiscal problems, and a lack of communication with the town board. To represent that this was all a scheme by MLSS or the Town is just ridiculous and apparently baseless. Unbelieveable....