The $2,074.02 cost in overtime for the Amherst Fire Department on the day of the Blarney Blowout doesn't sound like much compared to the $13,800 OT cost incurred by Amherst Police Department.
But Chief Tim Nelson laments, "Because of that $2074.02 expense I won't be able to send some of my firefighters to training courses that are not mandatory but but would enhance their EMS skills. That translates directly to better patient care!"
Perhaps if rowdy "college aged youth" thought their mother or grandmother would be left waiting for an ambulance because their local FD was tied up carting drunk kids to the hospital; or the EMT who does come to her assistance is a tad less trained because of budget drains caused by immature behavior, maybe they would think twice.
indiegogo campaign to send AFD to training courses!
ReplyDeleteI actually thought about that for a moment.
ReplyDeleteHeck, we had to raise $40,000 privately in 1999 to buy thermal imaging cameras.
i would support helping to pay for AFD to get more training they thought important. someone start the site.
ReplyDeleteWell maybe it time to partition the State House to have all college property owned off campus be removed from tax exempt status. For what I saw from some of the footage all the problems occurred off campus. But you being the people of Amherst keep letting those colleges buy whatever they seem to want. Take Umass for example, new buildings keep poping up all the time even their new police station. While your children go to schools that are so outdated and have the same problems occurring daily. But if you wanted to replace all the ceiling tiles in a school the Towns Building Enforcer will have you update your school with a sprinkler system. Wouldn't it be nice just to have your schools look presentable for once. Like no damaged tiles, hot water in the bathroom sinks etc for I could go on and on. Maybe it is time for you get your tax base were it needs to be. And build a state of the art school with solar panels, LED lighting, central heat and air and have the trades people who work for you be involved in the process for it's their skills that keep your schools up and running
ReplyDeleteOh, I forgot to mention maybe since UMass has it's own police force maybe they should also have their own EMT service as well
ReplyDelete$13,000 for police overtime here,
ReplyDelete$2000 for fire overtime there, and $12000 for a special election specifically to address your pet issue that you think everyone else should be concerned about, and after awhile, you've got real money.....all paid by somebody else.
The things we learn AFTER our college education is over.
"What Things Cost" is always an important story in Amherst.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Larry.
Charge those 70 kids!
ReplyDeleteCharge those 70 kids!
ReplyDeleteThey are -- a lot of that fine money comes to Amehrst -- five figures worth in the last town report I saw.
And the ambulance money comes back too -- where is it going?
Ambulance money goes back into "ambulance fund" because ambulances are, you know expensive.
ReplyDeletePolice ticket money (less than 50 cents on the dollar is actually recovered) goes into the General Fund.
"Ambulance money goes back into "ambulance fund" because ambulances are, you know expensive."
ReplyDeleteWhich raises the question of where would the money for ambulances come from if there weren't lots of drunken UMass students paying into this ambulance fund?
No, actually it doesn't raise that question.
ReplyDeleteThe ambulances have been busy all week without any drunk students in sight.
Although I would imagine the FDs in Florida have been pretty busy.