BY JIMMY LAWTONNorth Country This Week

OGDENSBURG — Despite ongoing financial difficulties, Chief Ken Gardner says the Ogdensburg Volunteer Rescue Squad remains on its feet and continues to have the lowest “scratch rate” in the county.

“The Ogdensburg Volunteer Rescue Squad continues to fight financial hardships and volunteer shortages which is no different from any Emergency Medical Service in New York State as well as our country as a whole. The past few years have been rough on the OVRS, to the point of threatening the organization's very existence,” Gardner said in the annual report released recently by the squad.

More calls

In 2023, OVRS responded to 2,987 service calls in 2023, up by more than 300 calls from the previous year, according to the annual report.

“Even with the increased call volume, our total number of mutual aided calls went down from 54 in 2022 to only 37 in 2023. I’m extremely proud to say that the Ogdensburg Volunteer Rescue Squad had the lowest scratch rate of any transporting agency in St. Lawrence County at 99% and the only other agency that could match us, answered 1200 fewer calls.,” he said.

In other words,  Gardner says the Ogdensburg Volunteer Rescue Squad has had an ambulance on-scene for 99% of the 911 calls for service and that includes 2nd, 3rd or even forth calls for service at the same time as well as Mutual Aid calls to other communities. 

“As an example, in St. Lawrence County the overall scratch rate was 89%. Unfortunately, we continue to see our travel distances and mutual aids to other volunteer departments increase significantly this is due to EMS providers dwindling in our surrounding communities,” said Gardner.

In 2023, the squad responded to 1630 calls in the City of Ogdensburg. 

In other surrounding communities, the squad answered 1002 additional calls including 268 in the town of Oswegatchie, 139 in the Village of Heuvelton, 231 in the Town of Lisbon, 57 in the Town of Morristown, 39 in the Town and Village of Waddington, 30 in the Town and Village of Hammond, 6 in the Village of Rensselaer Falls and 26 in the Town of Depeyster. The squad also took calls in the towns of Canton, Macomb, Russell, Hermon, Gouverneur, Dekalb, Madrid, Massena, Potsdam, Rossie and even Alexandria Bay.

“In addition, we were available to assist many other agencies for ALS intercepts. In 2023, the OVRS transport division exploded in call volume. These transports end up being life-saving calls just as crucial as a 911 call would as we have to get these critically ill patients to a higher level of care. These used to be to Syracuse or Burlington VT however, due to nursing shortages across New York State we have found ourselves taking patients to further and further destinations. We have transported patients to Massachusetts, Westchester (numerous times recently), Albany, Rochester and Buffalo. This ends up being extremely costly for OVRS due to staffing needs and vehicle wear and tear,” he said.

Call types & overdoses

The Ogdensburg Volunteer Rescue Squad treated patients for the following complaints: Abdominal Pain – 76, Allergic Reactions – 9, Altered Mental Status – 53, Animal bites – 3, Assaults – 20, Back Pain – 25, Breathing Problems – 190, Cardiac Arrests – 26, Chest Pains – 140, Seizures – 102, Diabetic Problems – 31, Falls – 223, Hemorrhage/Lacerations – 54, Overdose – 89, Pain – 91, Sick person – 380, Traffic Accidents – 111, Traumatic Injuries – 48, Stroke/CVA – 40, Unconscious/Fainting – 101 and many other miscellaneous calls for service. 2023 OVRS continued to see increases in unconscious/fainting and overdose calls. 

“Unfortunately, this remains a true crisis for the City of Ogdensburg. Drugs of all kinds are being “laced” with a drug called Fentanyl, which is a powerful opioid,” he said. 

“Many of these patients are not breathing when either OVRS, OPD or OFD arrive first. Once again if not for the incredible system we have built in the City of Ogdensburg, many of these would have become deaths. Instead, the patients are administered a drug called Narcan, which reverses the causes of an opioid overdose.”

On average, Ogdensburg Volunteer Rescue Squad was enroute and out of service to first calls within 2.45 minutes and arrived on scene in less than 4.48 minutes of dispatch in the 13669-zip code. 

Their  on-scene time is  7 minutes, which Gardner says is amazing when considering some calls over 20 minutes.

“The Members of OVRS are extremely thankful for all of our First Responders, especially the City of Ogdensburg Fire Department, the City Police Department, the Heuvelton Fire Department and all of the other departments we have the pleasure of working with every year. They are an intricate part of the EMS System and continue to help deliver fast and quality care to our communities. Our working relationships are outstanding and enable our Community Members to receive excellent Medical Services,” he said.

Membership

“The COVID epidemic saw our volunteer membership drop and with the decline in membership, together with a steady increase in the number of calls meant that we had to hire more full time and part time staff to meet our obligation to provide services. The constant increase in the cost of doing business obviously causes OVRS to have to find other ways to maintain our on-going service to the City of Ogdensburg but also all of the surrounding areas we service. Our members take pride in being able to provide and maintain the highest quality of care,” the report reads.

Gardner said that in March of 2022 volunteers were asked to begin doing their duty shifts and making their required monthly hours., but some of the volunteers decided to not return, due to changes in their personal lives and other extenuating circumstances. 

“Luckily, many other dedicated members realized the importance of serving their community and did return to make sure our organization continues to function as well as we always have,” he said. “Lately, we have been receiving new Member applications and in 2023 we added 10 new Volunteers. OVRS has Volunteer Members that travel from as far away as Montreal and Ottawa. “

Gardner says he’s amazed by the commitment

“Once again, the communities we serve are extremely fortunate to have an organization like the Ogdensburg Volunteer Rescue Squad that continues to function and be there when people are having their worst moments.”

The OVRS has 30 volunteers and has received one more application recently.

“At the current average rate for paid providers, this represents a savings of over $864,000 to the communities we serve in salary and benefits such as health insurance and pensions. The volunteers of the Ogdensburg Volunteer Rescue Squad receive no compensation for their service to their community. There is one (1) with 50+ Years of service, one (1) with 43 years, two (2) volunteers with 30 years+ of service, four (4) with over 20 years of service, two (2) with 10-14 years of service, seven (7) with 5-9 years of service and 12 with fewer than five years of service,”  the report says.

“The volunteer membership consists of: Three (3) Paramedics, one (1) Advanced Critical Care EMT, ten (10) Basic EMT’s, fifteen (15) Certified Divers the Ogdensburg Volunteer Rescue Squad also has a paid staff that consists of one Advanced Life Support provider & Basic EMT on duty 24 hours a day, seven days a week. We also have two full-time ALS providers and drivers staffing our transport division. Our paid staff consists of: Two (2) Critical Care Paramedics, Eight (8) Paramedics, four (4) Advanced Critical Care EMT’s and Nine (9) Basic EMT’s. All of the Volunteer members and paid staff must stay current with the latest technologies and medications in the field of Emergency Medicine by recertifying with New York State every three years,” according to the report.