DALTON, Mass. — The Board of Water Commissioners agreed at its recent meeting to participate in a  Central Berkshire and Hill Towns Emergency Medical Services regionalization study.

 

The study would provide information and be a "very helpful guide" to the future of EMS services and would not commit the district to any future changes, resident Dr. Thomas Irwin said during several meetings. 

 

Irwin explained that there is a push statewide to support regionalization of EMS services because having separate full-blown EMS services in each town is not financially viable. 

 

The study will be sponsored by the town of Hinsdale, as the state does not recognize the Dalton Fire District for grant purposes.

 

With this approval, the University of Massachusetts' Collins Center will apply for the state grant, and if awarded, the center will coordinate the study.  If approved for the grant, the study would likely start during fiscal year 2026, Irwin said in a follow-up. 

 

The study would include the bordering towns of Savoy, Dalton, Hinsdale and Peru. 

 

Windsor was also asked if it wanted to participate in the study but opted out because it was already involved in a separate study with Amherst College. 

 

Windsor didn't want to "confuse the picture by being involved in two studies at the same time," Irwin had told the board previously. 

 

Although Windsor is not part of the study, its call data and dispatch data are available through Dalton's dispatch.

 

The Hampshire County town of Middlefield was also going to be included, but its fire chief decided not to sign the letter of participation despite heavily relying on bordering towns for its EMS services, resident Don Davis explained. 

 

Irwin could not attend the meeting so Davis stepped in to present the study to the board again. 

 

Middlefield does not have an ambulance service and relies on Dalton and Hinsdale to help meet that need. 

 

Dalton Fire Department made six calls to Middlefield last year, which is a large chunk of its total calls.

 

Background: 

 

Irwin presented the study to the board during its meeting in October, but the item was not on the agenda, so a decision could not be made then.  

 

The board delayed the decision again at the end of October until they could receive input from its chair, James Driscoll, who was out of town and could not attend the meeting.