Almost 40 men and women dressed in navy blue, sporting the letters EMS crowded the Colonie Town Board meeting Thursday, July 10, to urge Supervisor Paula Mahan and the board to reverse a decision to terminate the EMS Lifeguard Rescue Program.
The program, which began in 1993, is composed of more than a dozen participants, and involves EMS respondents traveling with New York State Troopers in helicopters during rescue missions when needed. When not in flight, the respondents respond to calls primarily in Colonie.
According to Councilman Brian Hogan, who had said that he first learned about the program being terminated in a memo that was sent on Tuesday, July 8, all board members were not fully informed of the decision.
Mahan, addressing the board and public, had said the decision to terminate the program was the result of consideration of several factors, including the safety of the flights, whether the Colonie EMS respondents were focusing on responding to residents in Colonie and the costs of the program.
`We did take into account just the facts ` this is nothing personal,` said Mahan.
Mahan emphasized that if there are fewer EMS respondents in the air working with the flight program, more will be available to work on the ground `helping the people of Colonie.`
EMS Chief Jon Politis said, `The town supervisor notified us that she was bringing the program to an end on Monday. I’m sad that the program is coming to an end, but I’m very proud of our people and the job that they’ve done over the years, and I think it’s been a very great program and generated money for the town.`
One of the supervisor’s arguments for the termination of the program is that it is costing the town more money then it is bringing in. But according to Politis, the program brings in about $150,000 per year.
`We don’t understand what’s going on here,` said Gary Favro, union coordinator for the Colonie EMS group. During Favro’s remarks, he blamed the decision to terminate the program on `personal misinformation that is being directed toward the administration.`
Favro told the crowd `I don’t know who’s throwing the hand grenades in from the outside.`
One EMS responder, Mary Pat Provost, stood before members of the board and the public to read a letter on behalf of the EMS department. In the letter, she described the necessity of the program, including the extensive training the EMS respondents in the program receive. `Because the flight medics are doing EMS response in the town whenever they are not on missions (only 108 missions in 2007), certain protocols that they had were available to town residents in some cases years before other municipalities had them,` she said.
Provost refuted the supervisor’s assertion that the flight program is more dangerous than groundwork of the EMS respondents.
`Is the flight program dangerous? A lot of what we are asked to do is dangerous! … Working with emotionally disturbed patients is dangerous, treating patients with AIDS, hepatitis and other blood-borne diseases is dangerous. Is the board suggesting we should stop all of these activities? We dare say no.`
Town Attorney Michael Magguilli advised Provost that her three-minute time limit for comments had run up.
`I would like to make a motion to have all speakers speak on this issue for as long as they would like,` said Councilman Hogan. The motion was granted, and Provost was allowed to continue, to which she simply added that the EMS department would like the board to reconsider the decision to cut the program.
As public comments waned, Councilwoman Nicole Criscione-Szesnat introduced legislation that would require decisions regarding all programs to require a public hearing. Board members became confused about the resolution and took a five-minute recess to discuss the issue. One concern about the resolution was that the word `program` is too broad of a term.
The meeting resumed with a vote on the same resolution Criscione-Szesnat had originally introduced, which passed. Immediately following the passing of the resolution that would call for a public hearing on all program-related issues, Councilman William Carl made a motion to introduce a resolution to rescind Criscione-Szesnat’s prior resolution. The rescinding resolution was voted on, and passed, making Criscione-Szesnat’s resolution null and void.
Criscione-Szesnat then introduced legislation to hold a public hearing about the EMS Lifeguard Rescue Program, specifically, on the premise that a new contract with the state could be signed to continue the program.
The public hearing will be held on Thursday, Aug. 14, at Memorial Town Hall at 7:05 p.m.“
