BETHEL – On Tuesday, Nov. 4, voters will get another look at the capital improvement project that was shot down by a tie vote at town meeting in June.

That project seeks to improve the existing Bethel Ambulance Service facility by expanding, rehabilitating and equipping it at a cost up to $150,000.

But unlike in June, when the project was slated to be funded by a loan, both selectmen and the Budget Committee have instead opted to take the money from the town’s undesignated fund balance. Currently, the town has $1.3 million in surplus.

After selectmen unexpectedly gave Bethel Ambulance Service volunteers a second chance to send the proposal back to voters, they’ve worked diligently to better market the plan.

Ambulance Service Director Dustin Howe, 29, of Woodstock, also an intermediate emergency medical technician volunteer, said he has spent 86 hours informing the public about expansion needs.

These include meeting federally-mandated privacy requirements, a locked office for the director, inadequate storage facilities, safety issues, providing sleeping quarters for overnight volunteers, and reclaiming the training room.

The ambulance barn, which is located at 183 Main St., consists of a 750-square-foot bay for two ambulances and a 20-by-26-foot training room that serves as sleeping quarters, Howe’s office, a day room, kitchen, training room and equipment storage.

“It’s fairly claustrophobic with just two people sitting here,” Howe said Tuesday afternoon.

The expansion proposal will essentially double the station’s square footage, creating room for two sleeping quarters, a kitchen, a secure office, and a day room. Additionally, the expansion would provide a 6- by 8-foot room off the training room for disposable supplies and an attic to store hard supplies like backboards, Howe said.

Bethel Ambulance Service is a volunteer emergency medical service that is part of the municipality of Bethel. Its coverage area extends to the Maine-New Hampshire border in Gilead, up to Grafton Notch State Park, Riley Plantation and Mason Township and half of Albany Township.

Since the service was created in the early 1970s, it has continually expanded its call volume, and, therefore, its size, Howe said.

“Last year, we had 437 calls. That’s a 13-percent increase over the year before that. Our trauma and medical calls are the same, but we’re just getting more of each. We are at a critical junction in our history,” he added.

In the last few years, the service began hiring per-diem EMT-paramedics and EMT-intermediates to assist their volunteers in providing advanced life support during day shifts.

It also had to look outside the coverage area for volunteers in places like Jay, Rumford, West Paris, Andover, Woodstock and Greenwood.

Because of this reliance on volunteers who live outside the coverage area, space has been a real concern to fill shifts.

“Twenty-five percent of our volunteers who do night duty have to stay here because they live more than six miles away. We have even had two genders here at the same time in close quarters,” Howe said.

That 25 percent – six men and three women – works an average of 4.5 nights a week.

“When they arrive here, they have a choice of sleeping arrangements: they can sleep on an extra firm couch that doesn’t allow them to roll over, or they can sleep on a hard mattress on a concrete floor. Obviously, neither is a great alternative,” he added.

That 25 percent has also enabled the service to reduce its response time from an average of 10 minutes to eight for calls over a 24-hour period.

“Our hope is that if the expansion project is approved, it will lure more volunteers from outside the area to stay here. If we can lure more volunteers to stay here, we can get the ambulances out the door quicker,” Howe said.

tkarkos@sunjournal.com

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