NORTH EAST MOBILE Health Services is the primary transporting agency for Woolwich, but the average response time is 17 minutes.

WOOLWICH

In an push to respond to 100 percent of Woolwich’s emergency medical services calls in-house, the town EMS director is seeking 20 new volunteers to fill emergency training classes.

The town currently responds to roughly 85 to 90 percent of EMS calls, said Woolwich EMS Director Bill Longley Jr., while a contracted EMS service also responds to calls.

North East Mobile Health Services is the primary transporting agency for the town, said Longley, but the average response time from North East’s area base in Topsham is 17 minutes.

“When a call comes in, Woolwich responds to the call first because we can get there faster,” said Longley. “With a volunteer service though, you need a broader base so you can cover all the hours.”

Woolwich has 17 emergency medical technicians who have been trained variably at the basic to paramedic level. Additionally, the town has seven ambulance drivers, which Longley said are mostly firefighters who have been trained to drive emergency vehicles.

The town is now seeking 10 new EMTs and 10 new ambulance drivers, and will cover the cost of the training and materials if trainees agree to make a three-year commitment to offer volunteer service in Woolwich.

“Our biggest need for coverage is during the workday because a lot of people work out of town and can’t respond,” said Longley.

“It can be hard to find volunteers because it is a big commitment — the training is 130 to 150 hours for basic EMT,” he said, and two years to reach a paramedic level of training.

The four-hour EMT training classes will take place Tuesdays and Thursdays at the Woolwich fire department from 6-10 p.m, and will run from Nov. 4 to April.

The commitment for an ambulance driver is less substantial, said Longley, and entails an eight-hour ambulance vehicle class and driver training on the vehicle that will be used to respond to emergency calls.

“This is new,” said Longley of the ambulance driver training. “It’s a way of spreading out what we have for resources to allow people to be taken care of better.”

The status of the townowned ambulances are partially behind the push to expand the volunteer base.

Woolwich has two statelicensed ambulances, said Longley, both of which are equipped to the paramedic level. However, one ambulance is currently out of service and requires major mechanical repairs, and the second ambulance requires bodywork and will temporarily be out of service as well.

A new ambulance costs approximately $180,000, said Longley. The town considered buying a used ambulance for $27,000, which Longley said could have serviced the town for approximately four years, but the purchase was tabled.

“The selectboard asked, if we weren’t able to cover all of the calls, why we would need a new ambulance,” said Longley.

The town is currently seeking an estimate for the cost of the required mechanical repairs, said Town Administrator Lynette Eastman, adding that the selectboard and Fire Chief Geoffrey McCarren had not been in favor at the used ambulance purchase.

“Personnel was a concern for the selectboard,” said Eastman. “They questioned having two ambulances when we don’t always have the personnel to roll one.”

“I know a lot of communities in the area are struggling with this,” said Longley, who noted that he responds to approximately 70 percent of the 200-300 EMS calls Woolwich annually receives.

“Calls don’t always come in at 10 a.m. when you’re just sitting around,” said Longley. “They come in at 2 a.m. when you have to work the next day, or on the weekend when you had plans with your family — it’s a difficult commitment for people to make.”

Volunteers do not have to be Woolwich residents, said Longley, but have to be within a reasonably quick response range, such as Bath or Wiscasset.

Volunteers whose classes are paid for by the town are asked to make a commitment to respond to Woolwich emergencies for three years on a decreasing scale, starting at a 30 percent response rate.

Volunteers are compensated with an hourly stipend for the time they assist on a call. Drivers are paid $10 per hour, basic EMTs are paid $11, advanced EMTs are paid $12 and paramedics are paid $13 per hour.

Anyone is welcomed to join the class and pay the tuition, which is $695 not including textbooks, without any commitment. Volunteers are encouraged to register early because a 12-student minimum is necessary for the class.

“The decision of whether to have the class or not will be made very shortly,” said Longley. “The sooner people sign up, the sooner we’ll know for sure if we’re going to be able to have it.”

For more information, contact Bill Longley Jr. at 443-3589 ext. 20 and leave a message, or on his cellphone at 751-7420.

rgargiulo@timesrecord.com