Cochecton ambulance woes

ANYA TIKKA
Posted 8/21/12

LAKE HUNTINGTON, NY — At the Cochecton town board meeting on August 12, Cochecton Volunteer Ambulance Corps members Peter Grosser and Mike Attianese raised concerns about not being able to continue …

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Cochecton ambulance woes

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LAKE HUNTINGTON, NY — At the Cochecton town board meeting on August 12, Cochecton Volunteer Ambulance Corps members Peter Grosser and Mike Attianese raised concerns about not being able to continue to run the service as it is now, with dwindling membership, and the money available to man emergency calls.

Grosser explained, “We went to the school, put ads in the paper, but we just can’t get anybody interested in joining EMT.”

He said often it’s difficult to find the house the emergency call originated from on the rural roads. “One problem is that many residents don’t have their address visible, especially at night, making it very difficult to find where the call came from in some cases.”

The corps has sent letters asking household addresses to be marked clearly, with signs that glow when illuminated by a flashlight, but many don’t comply.

Grosser continued, “Some people put all the lights on in the house, some wait on the road, some think you just know where you’re going. We do have GPS, but it will be off as far as where the house is.”

Attianese said, “The town is never without ambulance service, because we’re on automatic control.” The calls first go to Cochecton Ambulance Corps, and then on automatic mutual aid arrangement to Tusten.

“Tusten usually goes pretty fast, because they have their people right in the building,” Grosser said.

The corps pays all the costs, Grosser indicated, and Supervisor Gary Maas asked, “Do you have enough money in the kitty?”

Grosser said some money is left, but if there are no calls there’s no revenue. “There has to be some way to deal with my time to be there. We have to find a way; our busiest time is summer because of Skinners Falls. We have to have a plan about calls, times, if we’re not generating enough money.”

Maas asked Grosser and Attianese to come back to another meeting, and let the town know if there’s a problem, and “We’ll take care of it.”

In other business, committees reported on progress on the town’s drive to keep Cochecton clean. There’s a new link on the website, encouraging residents to report violations, or call the number listed on the site. Littering can result in a $300 fine, according to the website, townofcochectonny.org.

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