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General Manager Michael Gleason tells the Selectmen of the troubles the Adams Ambulance Service has had with the new dispatch system.

Adams First Responders Say Dispatch Issues May Cause Tragedy

By Jack GuerinoiBerkshires Staff
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ADAMS, Mass. — The general manager of Adams Ambulance Service says the new dispatching system is faulty and warned "someone is going to get hurt" because of delays.

Michael Gleason spoke during the public comment period at the Selectmen's meeting Wednesday. He told the board the ambulance service is not satisfied with the dispatching service now handled by the Berkshire County sheriff's office.

"They aren't following the protocols and there are communication issues," Gleason said. "We need to get them fixed. I am not here looking for money, and I am not here to bash anyone. I came to tell you this is a very poor system and I am afraid someone is going to get hurt."

Dispatching was taken over in June by the county communication center after Selectmen voted earlier this year to outsource the service in order to save near $95,000. Town officials have been looking to outsource 911 communications for several years as a cost savings but ran into continued opposition from residents and emergency responders.

In early July, Police Chief Richard Tarsa said the system was up and running with a few minor bugs that had to be worked out. He said there were no safety concerns on the Police Department's end.

Gleason said there have been more than a few "bumps" in the ambulance system that has caused delays of up to 20 minutes and in the past month.

He said he made requests to the sheriff's office to use a specific protocol and has asked for changes to be made multiple times but has yet to receive an answer.

Normally primary pagers go off alerting first responders, then secondary pagers go off alerting the backup crew if the first can't answer. He said they are not alerting the backup crew, instead sending calls straight to North Adams Ambulance or County Ambulance.

"That is additional time. One time they didn't dispatch North Adams Ambulance until 13 minutes after the original call," Gleason said. "Fortunately for that person, he was having abdominal pain which turned out to be a minor problem. Thank
god it was not a heart attack or a stroke."

Gleason said he thought the ambulance would be allowed to keep the same radio frequency and channel, but found it had to switch to the Berkshire Control frequency the service does not have the infrastructure to handle. So he had to scramble to buy used pagers.

He added that the service was also promised a phone line that linked it directly to the sheriff's office. He said this was installed at the last minute and it only allowed the sheriff's office to call Adams before it quit working altogether.

There also are issues with the handheld radios. When the pagers go off, they are supposed to respond on the response channel. Gleason said this does not always work with the handhelds and they are at times useless when trying to contact the sheriff's office.

"This portable ... I may as well throw it away it is useless," he said. "If I have to go into your house and one of your family members is having a heart attack, I have to go out to my truck to make a phone call or call the radio to ask for extra help."

He added that this was an issue during last week's fatal car accident on Howland Avenue.

"The officer in charge of the Fire Department was on his portable trying to get a hold of the dispatch center to get a hold of the [LifeFlight] helicopter because this person was obviously that bad," he said. "He couldn't reach them and he had to take off to his truck, which was a detriment to patient care."



He said the two nearest antennae are in Savoy and Lee.

Tarsa said there are plans to install an additional antenna on Florida Mountain that should alleviate many of these issues.

Gleason said Adams has also lost three transfer calls from the hospital. He said this often leads to delays and loss in revenue. He said the Adams Ambulance has probably lost between $12,000 and $18,000 over the last month in lost revenue and new expenses.

"I look at Adams Ambulance as a small middle-class family. We pay our bills paycheck to paycheck just like every other family," Gleason said. "We are no different, and it's not like we have a bank account sitting back there."

He said the service was promised this would not be an issue.

Gleason also said he was under the impression that there would be a trial run before going live to iron out these types bugs.

"I thought we were going to put this in place and test it for a couple of months before putting it all into action," he said. "Now we are dealing with it and my biggest concern is someone is going to die and that is scary."

He added that he has reached out to North Adams' dispatch service for help if this does not get fixed. He said he does not believe in this because one town should not be serviced by two dispatch services, but he is worried about people's safety if the system continues to suffer.

Selectman Joseph Nowak suggested having a sitdown with the Sheriff's Office. Gleason said this is in the works.

Chairman Jeffrey Snoonian said he did not anticipate this and vowed to get to the bottom of the issue.

"I hear you loud and clear ... this is unacceptable," he said. "I did not expect this and this goes beyond hiccups but it is a commitment we made and we will make it work because the citizen's safety depends on it."

Selectman Arthur "Skip" Harrington agreed.

"This is unacceptable and we will look at getting answers and getting this rectified," he said. "Be assured we will be steadfast in getting this taken care of."


Tags: ambulance service,   dispatchers,   

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Adams Sees No Races So Far

By Jack GuerinoiBerkshires Staff
ADAMS, Mass. — With less than a week left before nomination papers are due, there are currently no contested seats.
 
Only selectman incumbent John Duval has returned papers. Selectman Howard Rosenberg has decided not to seek re-election. 
 
Rosenberg, who was elected in 2021, said he has chosen not to run again to make room for younger candidates.
 
"I feel strongly, we need younger people running for public office,  as the future of our town lies within the younger  generation. The world is so fundamentally different today and rapidly changing to become even more so. I believe we need people who are less interested in trying to bring back the past, then in paving the way for a promising future. The younger generation can know that they can stay here and have a voice without having to leave for opportunities elsewhere," he said.
 
The only person to return papers so far is former member the board Donald Sommer. Sommer served as a selectman from 2007 to 2010 and before that was a member of the School Committee and the Redevelopment Authority. He ran unsuccessfully for selectman in 2019 and again in 2021 but dropped out of before the election.
 
Incumbent Moderator Myra Wilk and Town Clerk Haley Meczywor have returned papers for their respective positions.
 
Assessor Paula Wheeler has returned papers and incumbents James Loughman and Eugene Michalenko have returned papers for library trustees.
 
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