It is important that Selectboard members hear from Brattleboro residents on how our Emergency Medical Response service to the town will work, going forward.
A change to the delivery of EMS was agreed to by the Selectboard at the April 19 meeting. This week’s board meeting will cover a proposal for a feasibility study, to include EMS. See item 8 (B) on the attached agenda for this Tuesday, May 17 at 6:15pm. In-person and remote joining details are below.
A general observation –
When the $25,000 for the Fire Department strategic plan was approved in the budget at RTM on March 19 of this year, there was no public indication that Rescue Inc would no longer be providing EMS services. Community input absolutely needs to be a part of any strategic plan for this service, following the example of other towns. Therefore, in this proposed feasibility study, “all options should be on the table.”
The proposed contractor to conduct the study, AP Triton, should be charged with determining whether staying with Rescue Inc would fit among any other options considered, and not merely tasked with a more narrow scope of recommending how the Selectboard’s post-RTM choice of new EMS provider can be made to function. There is a great deal at stake for the health of the people who live in Brattleboro, in the outcome of this study, and a thorough and open scope of this study is needed.
For relevant background, and more details, go to this link: https://bit.ly/3sAsvZp – (when you read through this outline, you may find questions that you personally wish to pose to the Selectboard)
Here’s a link to the Selectboard agenda and Zoom / call in info:
https://www.brattleboro.org/vertical/sites/%7BFABA8FB3-EBD9-4E2C-91F9-C74DE6CECDFD%7D/uploads/Agenda_05-17-22.pdf
The feasibility study proposal can be found at this link (starting at page 49):
https://www.brattleboro.org/vertical/sites/%7BFABA8FB3-EBD9-4E2C-91F9-C74DE6CECDFD%7D/uploads/Agenda_05-17-22_LINKED.pdf
Please do not hesitate to ask if you have questions!
public comment
At the May 17 SB meeting Bob, Millicent Cooley, Dan Quipp and others made points and distinctions about the value of public comment. At the SB meeting May 3 Mr. Goodnow cited the charter re selectboard authority over emergency services. The board has authority over a myriad of administrative matters. But to cite charter this way may have given the false impression that the board doesn’t have to listen to the people, and such an attitude has been the problem in this EMS affair as in other issues. If the board cares what people think, then they should provide a vote, and if the people petition for an ordinance, and the ordinance is approved, then that will determine the board’s action.