I am writing this as an Alden resident, a volunteer firefighter, and someone who knows that someday I could be the person lying there waiting for an ambulance.

First, one thing needs to be absolutely clear:

🚒 YOUR VOLUNTEER FIRE DEPARTMENTS ARE STILL ANSWERING 911 CALLS.

When our pagers activate, volunteers are still leaving their homes, families, jobs, dinners, and beds to respond.

Please MOVE OVER FOR BLUE LIGHTS.

That blue light may be a volunteer trying to reach the station because your mother, father, child, spouse, neighbor, or friend just called 911.

WHAT I WAS TOLD TODAY

According to information shared with me by fire-service, Alden fire departments were involved earlier this year in discussions about the future of ambulance service.

Several EMS options were reportedly discussed, with the real cost of maintaining ambulance coverage approaching $1 million annually when staffing and operating expenses are fully considered.

I am also being told there is a significant gap between insurance reimbursement and the actual cost of running the service, estimated at roughly $300,000 to $400,000 annually.

Those figures still need to be independently verified through Town records.

Residents deserve to see the proposals, cost estimates, call-volume figures, reimbursement projections, and service requirements used in making this decision.

One reported option was some form of dedicated ambulance tax to cover that funding gap.

If that was considered, residents deserve to know what it would cost and exactly what level of ambulance and paramedic service it would provide.

FIRE DEPARTMENTS REPORTEDLY SUPPORTED THE EXISTING SERVICE

I am being told that participating fire departments expressed satisfaction with Lancaster Volunteer Ambulance Corps and questioned changing a system they believed was working.

LVAC has publicly stated that it has served Alden since 2016, providing ambulance service and Advanced Life Support backup.

According to information provided to me, LVAC eventually reduced its requested Town contribution to a little over $160,000 annually.

Again, that figure should be confirmed through the actual proposal and Town records.

THEN SOMETHING CHANGED

According to fire-service leadership, the departments were not included in all later discussions regarding a replacement ambulance provider.

I am also being told that Mercy EMS held separate discussions with Town officials and proposed providing service at a substantially lower cost.

That does not automatically mean anything improper occurred.

But residents deserve answers:

How many ambulances are guaranteed?

Where will they be stationed?

Will paramedics physically be stationed in Alden?

What staffing levels are required?

What are the expected response times?

What happens when the primary ambulance is already committed?

And what does the actual contract require?

Those questions can be answered by releasing the documentation.

FIRE LEADERS SAY THEY WERE BLINDSIDED

Fire-service leadership has told me they did not know the Town had decided to move in another direction until after that decision had effectively been communicated to LVAC.

That matters because these are the firefighters and EMS personnel who will be standing inside your home providing care while waiting for the transporting ambulance and, when necessary, a paramedic.

LVAC has announced that its Town of Alden contract expires at 11:59 p.m. Wednesday, September 16, 2026.

Beginning at midnight September 17, LVAC says it will no longer be Alden’s contracted ambulance provider.

LVAC also says the Town intends to begin using another EMS provider on January 1, 2027.

That leaves one critical question:

🚨 WHAT IS THE AMBULANCE AND PARAMEDIC PLAN BETWEEN SEPTEMBER 17 AND JANUARY 1?

I am told fire-service representatives met with Town officials Tuesday evening seeking answers to these concerns.

PLEASE DO NOT BLAME YOUR FIREFIGHTERS

Your firefighters are still responding.

When you call 911, we are still coming.

But firefighters arriving to begin emergency care is not the same as having a staffed transporting ambulance and Advanced Life Support available when needed.

Minutes matter during cardiac arrest, heart attack, stroke, respiratory emergencies, major trauma, overdose, pediatric emergencies, and many other serious calls.

Firefighters can begin care.

But ultimately, many patients need an ambulance and sometimes a paramedic.

THIS COULD BE ANY OF US

Imagine the 911 call is coming from your house.

Your mother is having a heart attack.

Your father is showing signs of a stroke.

Your child cannot breathe.

Your spouse has been seriously injured.

Firefighters arrive and begin helping.

Then you ask:

“Where is the ambulance?”

Every Alden resident deserves to know that answer before the emergency happens.

I encourage residents to attend the upcoming Town Board meeting and respectfully ask for documentation.

Ask for the ambulance proposals.

Ask for the costs.

Ask for the call-volume numbers.

Ask where ALS will come from.

Ask about staffing and response expectations.

Ask what happens when the primary ambulance is unavailable.

Ask why responding fire departments say they were unaware of the final decision.

And above everything else, ask:

🚑 WHO IS COMING FOR US WHEN WE NEED A PARAMEDIC?

This should not become firefighters versus Town officials, LVAC versus another provider, or neighbor versus neighbor.

It should be about one thing:

What EMS system will provide safe, reliable emergency medical care to the people of the Town and Village of Alden?

Your volunteer firefighters are still answering the call.

Please move over for blue lights.

Please support the volunteers responding to these emergencies.

And please ask for clear, documented answers about what happens after we arrive and your loved one needs an ambulance.

Because someday the person waiting for that ambulance may be me.

And someday it may be someone you love.