Volunteer Hopes To Bridge Gap Between Ambulance Corps And Association

By John Voket

The way Laurie Veillette sees it, Newtown Ambulance’s first responders are sometimes treated like second-class citizens when it comes to the support frontline volunteers receive from the separate association that maintains financial control over the organization. So she took what she and many other emergency service professionals consider to be a significant step toward bridging an ever-widening gap between the Newtown Volunteer Ambulance Corps and its fiduciary, the Newtown Volunteer Ambulance Association.

On Tuesday evening, Ms Veillette tendered her application to the association leaders in hopes of becoming the first corps member to serve on the board of this nearly $1 million public nonprofit corporation. She told The Bee in a recent interview that during her relatively short time in the community, she discovered that most residents think the corps volunteers and the association are one in the same entity.

But in reality, the first medical personnel to respond when a call for help comes from the community are apparently the last to see much of the money the association collects during its annual fund drive, which is set to begin soon for the upcoming year. And while the association may be sitting on more than $960,000 in cash assets with the goal of eventually underwriting the cost of a new ambulance facility, the volunteers who rush out of their homes and businesses when a call comes in are currently working in cramped quarters that can barely accommodate the town’s three ambulance rigs.

During a typical 12-hour overnight shift, former Ambulance Corps chief Kristin Peterson said she makes herself as comfortable as possible on a reclining chair in the confined lounge area at the current ambulance garage.

“I usually try and sleep on the chair so any other female volunteers on the shift can have the couch,” she said. “We let the gentlemen on the shift have the bed area.”

The ambulance facility actually has two separate sleeping rooms, but with the surplus of equipment and materials required to outfit the vehicles, conduct training classes, and community outreach, one of those rooms is typically filled from floor to ceiling with supplies, while CPR training dummies occupy the bunks and a spare gurney blocks the doorway.

“I would like to see our volunteers in a facility where they want to come and volunteer with a greater degree of comfort, and where those waiting to go out on calls aren’t forced to hang around outside when all the available rooms are being utilized for meetings and classes,” she said. “The association has always been critical of our ability to carry out operations, but it seems like they are against providing the equipment and facilities to enhance our morale and operational efficiency.”

That is where Ms Veillette comes in.

She believes she has the demeanor and the background to contribute positively to enhanced relations and communication between the nine-member board of the association and the 60-plus volunteers responders who make up today’s Ambulance Corps. Ms Veillette said her resume incorporates a broad degree of experience which she feels would be of value to the company and the community.

“I have a degree in economics, I have education and practical business knowledge in accounting, finance, property management, and a specialty in research in finance and investments,” she said. Originally from Massachusetts, she was a Notary Public and held a real estate license. She is currently a certified EMT and a Red Cross instructor, and although Ms Veillette continues to respond to ambulance calls, her responsibilities at home present her with a schedule that is more conducive to the kind of work done by the association.

 Since none of the Ambulance Association members actively respond to calls, or are certified members of the corps for that matter, Ms Veillette is among many who believe it is time for the organization that holds the purse strings to open its ranks to someone representing the corps. Among those supporting her candidacy for the post is outgoing Ambulance Association board member Stephen Savarese.

“The association members never had to get up in the middle of the night in a driving snowstorm,” Mr Savarese told The Bee earlier this week. “I think corps members [on the association board] would have a lot to add.”

While the chief of the corps is invited to attend limited segments of association meetings to report on activities, concerns, and budgetary issues, Mr Savarese explained, the corporation status of the fiduciary organization provides broad freedoms to restrict public access to their monthly meetings, and makes most of the business and discussions among board members inaccessible to anyone serving as frontline responders.

“It’s not a healthy situation that there is a sense of separation between the two ambulance bodies,” he said. “We need to do everything possible to prompt the volunteers to stay engaged.”

Ms Veillette is similarly concerned. She understands that the chief of the corps reports to the association, “…but he is not included in the association discussions that ultimately determine the fate of the funds. The corps is full of knowledgeable and dedicated members who understand the town’s needs, why not utilize their expertise?” she asked.

“I maintain that the board is lacking in ‘frontlines’ awareness and overall EMS knowledge,” she said. “If it is true, as one board member stated during the association’s annual meeting, that the board does not do any research into issues the corps faces, then I’m not sure what they bring to the table in terms of support of our town services. Financial know-how is important in regard to investing funds, but does it take ten people to count and move money?”

A Historic Separation

During that meeting Tuesday evening, Board Chairman William Wiemels cited the historic separation between the association and the corps as one of the reasons why he and his fellow trustees would not entertain Ms Veillette’s nomination on the spot. But he did agree to accept her resume for consideration, and indicated that the board would likely have a reaction to her self-nomination by December.

“Historically, we’ve never had any corps members on the association board,” he told her during the meeting. “The only connection has been the chief [of the corps].”

Mr Wiemels said he was concerned that if the chief of the corps is invited to interact with the association board, and that another member of the corps was serving on the board, the two might present conflicting information to the volunteers.

“If we have someone from the corps on the board, and the chief reports to us, people will get two different stories,” he said.

During that meeting, Corps Chief Ken Appeley stated that he supported Ms Veillette’s nomination on behalf of the volunteers. “I don’t see that the board can afford to waste her talents,” Mr Appeley stated.

Assistant Chief Liz Cain said she thought that Ms Veillette would be a unique asset to the association.

“Laurie is very organized, very dedicated,” she said. “Because she’s new to the town and relatively new to the EMS profession, she always comes in with fresh ideas. If the association’s responsibilities are supposed to be about policy and fundraising, she would bring a lot of good experience to the table.”

In the end, Ms Veillette said, her goal is to close the gap between the needs of the corps and the decisionmaking process of the association. “I believe we have the resources to service Newtown well, and ultimately, that’s what it is all about,” she said.