Public Safety Committee discusses grants, ambulance service

Vicky Klukkert, The Daily Star, Oneonta, N.Y.
·3 min read

Nov. 7—The Delaware County Board of Supervisors Public Safety Committee discussed grants, software and ambulance service during its meeting Monday, Nov. 7.

Director of Emergency Services Steve Hood and Deputy Director Margaret Wilson talked about grants the department received, upgrading software and the beginning of paid ambulance service with American Medical Response.

The county received a $152,921 state Public Safety Answering Points Operations grant to help pay for equipment or maintenance; a $1.2 million state Homeland Security and Emergency Services Statewide Interoperable Communications grant to help pay for P25 compliant interoperable equipment; a $23,092 state Emergency Management Performance grant and a $85,356 state grant to purchase computer aided dispatch equipment.

Hood said the department will use the grant as a down payment for a new software system that will be shared by the Emergency Services and Sheriff's Departments. The new software would notify emergency first responders whether a person had been arrested, and also prior history of the person.

"It's pretty standard," Hood said of the software.

The $23,092 grant will allow the department to install security cameras on all of the communication towers it owns, Hood said.

The grants will be voted on at the Board of Supervisors meeting on Wednesday, Nov. 9.

During the meeting, Hood said he has held conference calls with representatives from AMR to discuss the implementation of countywide ambulance service. He said the ambulances have been lettered to signify they are for Delaware County and the company is ready to begin Dec. 1. Hood said one ambulance and one fly car will be stationed at AMR's Hamden station and the other ambulance will be stationed at AMR's Pindar Corners station.

Committee Chair and Andes town Supervisor Wayland "Bud" Gladstone asked if the committee could receive a monthly report with the number of calls the company responded to, where service is lacking and the percentage of missed calls.

Gladstone also asked, "When you tone out Bovina, would AMR get the call at the same time?"

Hood said, "Some departments have simultaneous mutual aid and are automatically toned out with the first call. Other departments have 10 minutes to respond before mutual aid is called."

Committee member and Roxbury Town Supervisor Allen Hinkley asked if mutual aid is decided by each department, and Hood answered, "Yes."

Hood said his department will meet with all of the volunteer EMS departments during an EMS advisory board meeting on Wednesday to discuss the new service and their concerns.

Hinkley asked if one of the ambulances would be stationed in Stamford, as that village is without ambulance service, has two adult homes and is half-way between Pindars Corners and Roxbury.

Wilson said she has been mapping out how far each ambulance would be from different locations, including schools. For example, she used the former Kellogg school in Treadwell and found it would be 18 minutes from Pindars Corners and 15 minutes from Hamden.

Also during the meeting, Sheriff Craig DuMond announced Dr. Baburao N. Samudrala is retiring after 40 years of service to the county jail. He said the department is searching for a replacement.

Vicky Klukkert, staff writer, can be reached at vklukkert@thedailystar.com or 607-441-7221.