(Credit: CGR via Queensbury, 2021)
A map of the geographic borders between Queensbury's three EMS coverage districts. Bay Ridge and North Queensbury are the two sections on the right-hand side.
The Bay Ridge Rescue Squad and the North Queensbury Volunteer Rescue Squad are discussing a possible merger that would take place slowly over the next couple of years. The emergency medical service companies are two of three nonprofit EMS companies that serve Queensbury. West Glens Falls Emergency Squad is the third and is not part of these discussions.
Although the two companies are not talking publicly about the merger, officials say they will have an announcement early next month.
The town is planning to schedule the public hearing on the new arrangement at their May 2 meeting and then hold the hearing and possibly vote on the new arrangement at the town board's May 16 meeting. If passed, the arrangement would be effective June 1, Town Supervisor John Strough told FoothillsBusinessDaily.com in an interview this week.
The discussions are the first step toward consolidating the two companies, Strough said.
“It’s a huge step in the right direction,” he said.
The initial discussions are working out the protocol of how the two companies would operate together even before they fully merged. Strough said a merger between the two companies will offer efficiencies in training, space and equipment use.
Although they are stand-alone, nonprofit organizations, the EMS squads work under laws and regulations with the town to provide emergency and paramedical services. They are the ambulance crews for the town and respond to 911 calls. They cover everything from car accidents to heart attacks to helping assisted living staff when patients have fallen.
Each of the companies primarily handles one geographic portion of the town, though they may cross borders to help one another and even respond, if needed, to emergencies in other nearby locations such as Glens Falls, Lake George Village and Hudson Falls.
Changes have been coming to the EMS squads over the past year after a consultant’s report highlighted some of the issues.
In December 2020, consulting firm CGR prepared a report on EMS services in the town and recommended that all three stations merge, adding that merging two stations would be better than keeping three separate companies.
As part of that report, a survey of the emergency squad staff and volunteers found: “A majority of all respondents, 53%, are favorable to the idea of merging departments; 15% are neutral; 33% are unfavorable. Majorities in [Bay Ridge] and [West Glens Falls] are in favor, while the majority in [North Queensbury] is not in favor.”
The survey does not say if respondents were asked about a merger between just two companies.
The report also said: “The paid staff receive a low wage compared to the public employees in the Town of Queensbury, are not allowed to receive paid time off under the town contracts, and barely meet the standard of a living wage for most household situations.”
This year, Queensbury has increased pay along with paid time off to full-time staff at the stations.
“We were paying them $20 per hour, and we upped that $5 per hour to $25 per hour,” Strough said of full-time, Advanced Life Support staff, staff trained to higher level of service. They also received sick time and five personal days.
The town voted earlier this week to keep North Queensbury’s 2022 budget through April and May and then shift it in June if the agreements are reached.