When you do need an ambulance,usually your whole household is in confusion,it is very comforting to see those familiar faces taking care of your loved one.

I had to call 911 for an injury to my young son just this past Sunday. Not only was the Ambulance here within 10 minutes they came with compassion that we have come to love about our Volunteers. It takes a very special kind of person to do what the Ambulance Corp members and Fire Department members do. I am very proud that we have such dedicated Volunteers in the Township of Mahwah and would hate to see a service that is already being provided for our town taken away.

i used to ride for the town where i used to live. the familiar faces seem to calm down everyone who is at the call. doing it the way the mayor wants it may not be the right way. they town sees sats and that it. they mostly never spent a day in an emt shoes. It 2am and you get a crew, it thanksgiving and the person excuss self from the table to help one in need, a family time with there children i be right back. it is there part of the comment you make when you get keys and pager. Now because they need help from another town cuz they right cant do it sometimes, it ok because you return the favor back. it like threw dart at them cuz u going to pay someone else to take the call. Please rethink and think it threw. trend lightly cuz you will never know when u may need them.

I think the key part of this article is why the other towns welcome mats are wearing thin...I would like to know the answers to that....

Sounds like the plan is NOT to replace/affect the volunteer ambulance corps at all, but rather seeking an alternative to trying to get neighboring towns to respond to Mahwah - which likely are having the exact same day-time coverage problems that Mahwah has, except their volunteer base is even smaller.

I can certainly see the dilemma that everyone has day-time jobs, possibly out of town - so there might be fewer people who CAN respond (including through mutual aid) - while those are the exact times when everyone in town (commuters, students) is out and about, businesses are bustling with activity, traffic is more intense, likely creating a larger demand for services than at night when more people tend to be home?

As far as getting things for free: I suppose it would require more people to be willing to volunteer their own personal time just so that others don't have to pay for services? Do those who expect free services reciprocate by serving the town as volunteers elsewhere?

No one is disputing the ambulance corp does a good job when it responds. I don't see a problem with having a third party service come in if the ambulance corp can't make it. After all the billing would not impact the person needing assistance. Insurance companies pay for ambulance transport so why not take advantage of the benefit?

As to seeing a familiar face? Come on, how big is this town? Maybe if you have kids you get to know a familiar face, but if you are a childless couple, you don't know who these volunteers are. And certainly if you have to have Ramsey come in, you have an even greater chance of not knowing any one. This argument falls way short.

More importantly, if company 4 has no problem with this but company 1 does; it suggests to me it is more ego than anything else.

Let me add a real life experience. I needed ambulance assistance in Mahwah once and I wanted to go to HUMC. The corp coerced me into going to Valley Hospital because they were the only rig on that night and it would leave the town without coverage due to the travel time. So I agreed, only to get told by the nurse at Valley not to let that happen again as all my doctors are at Hackensack. Having a third party service available would allow the corp to take a person to the hospital best

What happens if the corp can't respond and it takes too long to respond and someone dies? What is the towns liability in a suit? Important questions all.

Peggy

I don't see any need for a private service in our town. We have called Mahwah Ambulance Company 4 many times at all times of the day. They have always responded in a very quick time. The members are always respectful, courteous and well trained. These are own people, volunteering for our town. They do a wonderful job and I see no reason for change.

November is right around the corner folks,lets get someone in that understands how volunteering works and will stop listening to people that do not live in this town.

I used to work for some of the private ambulance services ...Some "scary" characters were employees.... I quit because of that & stuck to my town's volunteer organization (I was not yet a resident of Mahwah)....Don't let a private company respond to the residents of Mahwah!!!

Why on earth do we want to ruin a "good thing"? These volunteers are dedicated to the people of MAHWAH! They are knowledgable, courtesy and arrive promptly. We should thank our volunteers every chance we get...not take their "jobs" away!!

If greed wasnt the driving force behind our political system of past. And if those former politicians cared about the people rather then themselves and their pockets then our town, our state and our country would not be in the financial situation it is in. Hence, the changes that are being proposed. This is no easy decision to make for any mayor. His job is to save the town from the financial burden that previous mayors and politicians have left him to fix . The borough needs to recoup, and by sharing services it allows the town to begin to recover from an ever growing debt. Or perhaps you'd prefer that the town raise your taxes. Dont forget people volunteer, but it's your tax dollars that are used and spent to buy the equipment they use and the vehicles they drive and the uniforms they wear. It was also stated last night that when we call PD or FD we don't get a bill then why should we for EMS. Umm, yes you get a bill, be it quarterly or yearly. It's called a TAX Bill and that money pays for those services. It's a one time fee, one we all dread, one that's thousands of dollars and one we all fight to pay, but we pay it! Consider that. The next time you think any emergency service is "Free." at the end of the day, if I'm dying or injured I don't care what ambulance comes for me, so long as they come promptly and are professional and well trained be it volunteer or Private services.

One last comment. If the problem seems to be As a result of delayed or no response, or a lack thereof members, then, why not attack that problem instead of wasting your time on attacking those who are actively seeking ways to remedy it with the best interest of the people at heart? The shared services seem to be working well in other towns who were struggling in Bergen County. And like your tax money provides for the daily function of those services, so does the money that the Private service collect from insurance. It's called operating expenses. Maybe we should be a little less remiss and a bit more open minded to some of the changes brin proposed.

in the town where i used to live ( i am a current resident of mahwah) We used DPW worker that got trained as EMT To mainly coverage for during the week days. If dpw was off we had enough time to find coverage for that day

so its is OKAY to have a PAID TOWN EMPLOYEE to staff the FREE Ambulance??

A missed call means that the town who originally received the call couldn't respond. Which means delayed response from another town and delayed care. A service thats fully staffed and in town would prevent those delays in response and care. Sounds like a good thing i would think. And Carol, regardless of what the charges are to the insurance company the proposed service would have to accept the insurance allowable and not balance bill the private insurer. At least that's what I took from the meeting.

On another note, paid services already respond into Mahwah. They're called Paramedics. Be it Valley, Holy Name or Hackensack MICU. Even though they provide advanced life support they bill the patient's insurance and so on, just as a private ambulance or hospital based BLS would do.. That money replaces the medicine or equipment they utilize to treat you...Puts gas in their trucks so they can respond to you... And is used to educate those who care for you. Your money, your tax dollars replaces the same for the BLS ambulances in town and if a private service, it is the insurance.. It is important that the community take the time to research and understand all aspects of emergency services and how they function before jumping to conclusions and assuming the worst. And what is the worst case scenario??... Time an lives are saved in the process? If that's the worst case I'm all for it.

FYI: you know that NJ poverty is 10.7%. does not matter where we live in the state of nj. what happen if A) the person calling 911 does not have insurance B) they do but they dont cover it. Also would paid service put a fear in resident who might have call you to drive to the hosptail because they are afraid of getting a bill. Once my grandma called 911 and the MICU came and the bill was 2,500 dollar. Please do not take something just may need be a little tricky harder.

Hey Ryan, put your post back up. Dont be afraid. That's pertinent info that the public should be made aware of. If they don't know by now at least I took notes.

Yeah Right Buckster! Thats the same thing they told my parents in Ridgewood! and guess what? It went to collections.. It seems as if you have some inner workings on this that may benefit you!

Let me address a couple of issues and perhaps someone can answer one for me.

1) Will someone tell me how this plan by the mayor is an attack on the volunteer ambulance corp? Is he saying get rid of them? Is he saying they are no good? No, he is saying there is a need for a backup service in the event Mahwah's ambulance corp is not available. What am I missing? As long as there enough volunteers, the volunteer ambulance corp is here to stay. Company 4 seems not to have a problem with this, why company 1?

2) Depending on mutual-aid? If Mahwah is having problems getting volunteers which seems to be an issue, what makes you think other towns aren't. They are. That is why in some other towns they just use a paid service outright during days or nights, wherever they can't get enough volunteers. With volunteers being short all over (I belong to two groups which are not ambulance related and we can't get new members anymore as people are too busy to volunteer), do you think other towns want to see their volunteers disappearing for calls in other towns?

3) Yes, besides paarmedics, hospitals have ambulances. They are not free. They either bill like a private service will or a town contracts with them. Either way, you are contracting with a private service.

4) Have town employees respond to calls? That means time away from their regular duties which means things get delayed there while they respond to calls or you need additional employees (those calls add up) or have to pay overtime. You know the town is limited to 2% property tax increases as per state law. That is good, until you have to start laying people off,cut hours, provide less municipal services, takes longer to get things done or start having user fees like Passaic is doing to compensate for the inefficencies which develop by having town employees volunteering during work hours.

5) Someone implies the mayor doesn't know anything about volunteering. You are talking about a person who has been a member of the Mahwah Muncipal Alliance for years and has volunteered in other groups. I think he knows about volunteering.

6) What is the town's liability if someone dies or becomes permanently incapacitated as a result of a delay in an ambulance arriving?

6) Other towns are eliminating the volunteer service during select shifts out right while the mayor is proposing only back up coverage.

That being said, I am willing to be educated. Will someone from company 1 explain to me what the problem with the mayor's proposal is using facts? I am looking for an intellectual explanation without using fear or appealing to emotions. Thanks.

Look the West Bergen Tea Party and the Bergen Republicans as well as Tea Party Advocate Freeholder Hermansan have demanded smaller government and the plan is to end the Mahwah vols and replace with a FOR-PROFIT EMS service, (that may be friends of Bergen Republicans),,,,, this kills-2-birds-with-1-stone..... 1)smaller government 2) help political contributors....... If anyone didnt see this coming, then they havent been following Bergen politics.... make money for their Republican friends and say your lowering taxes.... kinda funny this never came up during Mayors election... look for in 6 months to happen.

you are so right. the government has become who you know not what is best for the residents and the people who have make it there 2nd job helpping our town for nothing.

Buckster Please get you fact before you speak even more.

also where i used to live and ride there was a point when if we know that we were not able to get a crew to ride we ask for the captain to ask another town to cover for a little while but you also have to return the favor when ask. Instead of waiting for that crew cant happen then ask. ask when need help ( it may cost just pizza or alouding then to hold a crew at you base but using there rig.

Just to make sure it is clear, I have no vested interest in this other than as a Mahwah resident. I have no understanding of the history of this dispute nor any conversations which may have occured between any government officials and the amulance corps. All I heard is company one has been the one's who have been vocal in their objections and that company four has not. Since I am not a member of company four or related to anyone who is, I assumed the silence was acceptance (perhaps grudgingly).

My position has been stated before. No sense repeating it again. What I would like to see is people coming out with facts or clear opinions instead of name calling and innuendos. Not everyone is on the ambulance corp and knows what has or hasn't transpired. Educating the public would be nice. Who knows, my opinion may change?

Buckster my parent live in little ferry and i used to ride there they pay the dpw to work for the town as part of there day to day duty are to take the abulmance call too. They dont used private company to give the town service.

i went to the fuchs website: http://www.fuchsems.com/services/fleet.html Our fleet, which consists of 9 ambulances and 7 wheelchair vans, comes equipped with some of the latest technological advancements in the industry. Each vehicle is part of an intricate network allowing our communications hub to monitor vehicle location and dispatch our technicians based on the closest proximity of an incoming call." Closest proximity why should resident recieve that when it fast to get a crew then wait for paid even if it ends up needed mutal aid

come on ... we are really going to compare Little Ferry to Mahwah??? Apples to oranges. Using DPW employees sounds like a good idea in theory, but don't think it would work in a town of this size. Last time I checked DPW was already short about 9 people and many of the DPW employees are already members of the volunteer fire dept. If they are covering fire dept AND EMS calls when will the roads get plowed and fixed, the recycling and leaves get picked up, etc.?

I have been following the chain of comments about the amublance corps issues. I would like to ask a coupe of questions and make some comments. I wonder how many of the people that expressed their opinions actually attended the meeting?? I for one was there. The presentation addressed the calls for both Co 1 & Co 4 over the past 2 and half years. There statics should speak for themselves. The request for mutual aid during this time period is above reproach. These two
VOLUNTEER organizations do not warrant such critism. And just for the record, the surrounding mutual aid towns were also in attendance to show their support. I would hope that before any more bashing of these two agencies, people will wait to get all of the facts.

.... Or perhaps show up at a mayor and council meeting and speak your thoughts at the public forum. Until then, Stop the bickering behind false identities and make yourself an your opinions known to the those who make the decisions.

The politicians need to walk a day in an emt shoes. having to leave dinner , hoildays, birthday and another is your child first.

Mike, FYI, the ambulances in Fair Lawn are indeed staffed by volunteers, who stand by at there building and respond within seconds of a call. Secondly, although the trucks are staffed by volunteers, the town bills their residents for ambulance services. They use a 3rd party billing agency to process and collect on those claims and BLS services provided. Also, when Fair Lawn's EMS is unavailable, they reach out to private and hospital based ambulances to respond to assist them through MICCOM.

where would private amb. be stationed? Would they be in the current buildings during
a state of emergency like our crews now? Well maybe they'll take over those buildings and answer calls from there for all surrounding areas! Wow what an amount of traffic and noise around the clock! Think about it! Are you close to one of the buildings?

look Freeholder Hermansan and his friends who run the Korean for profit Ambulance corporation, will make a lot of money for themselves off of Mahwah taxpayers...... thats all this is about....

Listen everyone should stop feed the insanity of this and direct there concerned directly to the mayor of mahwah.

Tbird 148 i read the mayor blog and watch a video that he tape. So where i was going with stopping the insanity because there is alot more to the eye of the public. have you ever hear the saying you dont know what happens behind closed doors