The New Paltz Rescue Squad has added a paramedic crew that’s based in the Highland firehouse, in order to provide lifesaving services to residents of Lloyd. According to Chief Matthew Goodnow, the squad was invited to bid on the Lloyd contract last year, and after it was awarded members have been working to staff up the new station without sacrificing response times in New Paltz.
The Lloyd contract requires a response in less than ten minutes, Goodnow said, with penalties being incurred for missing that mark. “We see no problems with reaching that,” the chief said. Space in the Highland firehouse has been rented for an advanced life support crew, which includes a paramedic. These crews are able to perform many of the same critical services as happen in hospital emergency rooms, which means for example that someone experiencing cardiac arrest can be treated in their own driveway before being transported for longer-term recovery.
In addition to the full-time crew in Highland, a basic life support team is being expanded from three days a week to seven, and will be able to respond to calls in either town. Basic life support includes first aid and CPR, as well as using equipment such as automatic external defibrillators and bag valve masks. Basic life support crews include at least one emergency medical technician trained in these skills, but do not include a paramedic trained to administer medications, stitch wounds and read electrocardiograms.
Goodnow had been warning New Paltz officials for the past year that the town’s rescue squad contract was starving the organization, and that changes up to and including relocation might be necessary for it to be continued as a service. That resulted in an additional $200,000 in the 2024 budget, but according to the chief, that “got closer, but it’s nowhere where we need to be.” The Lloyd opportunity provided a way to get to that ideal revenue level. “We’re not going to cut ourselves out of this deficit,” the chief said. “We need to grow out of it.”
Providing service in Lloyd is expected to be a boon to residents of both towns, according to the chief. “We’re giving better services to both communities, for less than a commercial service.”
Hiring is not a problem. “Our mission is important, and we are about the patient at the end of the call. We have no trouble at all getting staff,” said Goodnow. The rescue squad hasn’t been fully volunteer in decades, largely due to the big time and money commitments involved in modern training, but volunteers do serve and are welcome.
The future may include additional expansion, but the chief intends on being cautious. Lloyd made sense because it’s the adjacent town. “I wouldn’t say more is out of the question, but it certainly won’t be any time soon. We want to grow responsibly, and that means slowly. We don’t intend on being the Ulster County rescue squad. We will work with our communities to make sure we get it done for everyone.”
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