Lanesborough Eyes Full-Time Ambulance
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Prior to Jan. 1, 2008, Lanesborough was serviced during the day and on weekdays by two companies, American Medical Response, a nationwide company, and County Ambulance, a company whose sole business is serving Berkshire County. Evenings and weekends service was provided by the Lanesborough ambulance with volunteer, unpaid emergency medical technicians. There was sufficient service.
On Dec. 31, AMR stopped servicing Berkshire County. Since Jan. 1, the consensus of a number of knowledgable people is that additional service to that provided by County Ambulance is needed during the day. Since then the Lanesborough Ambulance has provided the additional service, funded by the town.
State law requires that an ambulance be staffed by two EMTs. It is not possible in Lanesborough to staff the ambulance full time with volunteers. To staff it with paid EMTs will cost about $65,000 a year. A warrant article to that effect will be offered at the town meeting on Tuesday, May 13.
When the ambulance is used there is a cost for its use. This cost is billed to the client who then bills his insurance company, if he has insurance. It is not known what portion of the annual cost can be recovered in that way.
The Lanesborough Ambulance also bills for its service. Historically, the annual deficit has been about $8,000. This deficit has occurred because some of the people do not have insurance and others simply have not paid.
Comstar, the company that does the billing for the Lanesborough Ambulance, usually bills the client for three or four months and, if there is no response, stops billing. Consideration is now being given to other methods of collection, such as using a collection agency or going to small claims court. No decision has been reached regarding this.
Information provided by Lanesborough Concerned Citizens Newsletter. Harheimer credits Fire Chief Charlie Durfee for giving him lots of help with the ambulance history. To receive the weekly newsletter with more Lanesborough news, e-mail ahartheimer@yahoo.com.
