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I am writing this letter to speak out against the elimination of the Advance Life Support services at Lyons Town ambulance.
I am concerned about the safety of the town residents and beyond with one less ALS agency.
It was a report in the Finger Lakes Times in July, written by Steve Buchiere that reported on a county-funded study conducted by Fitch and Associates, “which concluded the average emergency response times to ambulance calls remain at the 1999 levels.” The report, “noted the loss of 8-out-of-21 transporting agencies in Wayne County, and seemed to point out these agencies could not provide an adequate number of personnel for various reasons, including the high level of training necessary to serve as a medic.”
In light of the information from this report, it surprises me that the Town of Lyons would choose to eliminate medics/ALS services to the community.
The above-mentioned report stated, “It takes almost 21 minutes for medical care to arrive for 9-out-of-10 emergency medical calls,” and I would conclude that the closure of one more ALS service in the county would further prolong response times.
I realize there is a county car staffed with paramedics to help respond to calls where an ALS provider is needed and not available. However, on November 15th the Wayne County NY ALS posted on Facebook that the county paramedic service had already responded to over 4,000 calls in 2020.
So I must question do they have the staff and resources to cover additional calls from the Lyons area? I am also upset as a community member that there has been no town meeting about this matter, or to my knowledge any forum at which I can voice my concerns over this loss to the community.
I sincerely hope the people who are making this decision do not find themselves or their loved ones, awaiting an ALS provider who is 21 minutes away when minutes matter.
– Gail May, Lyons
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