Powered by 25 of the most incredible volunteers in the world, Colrain Ambulance has been providing care to the ill and injured since 1976. In an era of dwindling participation in volunteer led services, Colrain has stood out as a formidable exception to the rule as it continues to expand services including its recent upgrade to the Paramedic level of care and the addition of the Town of Heath into
the fold of primary service towns. Since March of 2008, Colrain Ambulance has responded with at least 2 trained EMT's to 99.998% of your calls for help. Its secret lies in the associations’ ability to use a forward thinking thought process to collaborate, plan and execute with others for a common goal, that being the expansion of EMS educational opportunities, improvement of the health and well-being of the citizens, providers and visitors of the areas we serve and development of long term sustainable methods of providing world class care. The dedicated volunteers, who range from age 18 to 82, contribute in excess of 10,000 hours per year to meet the needs of our population. Some are career EMS personnel, while many perform in other occupations such as construction, law enforcement, manufacturing, nursing, education and administration. In addition to the above number of hours, each volunteer is required to attend many hours of continuing education and training each year just to maintain their level of certification. Many choose to expand and supplement these opportunities by attending advanced level training and education programs that often involve travel, many times paying for the privilege of expanding their knowledge out of their own pockets. The associations’ contribution also extends to community education and training in areas of CPR, first aid training and safety awareness. As part of our educational mission we continue to partner with a fellow non-profit organization, Community 911 Training headquartered in Greenfield, Mass. Led by our own Director of Education and Training, Matt Wolkenbreit, Community 911 Training provides world class educational opportunities to all levels of healthcare providers and to the public in general. Matt was recently named the EMS Educator of the Year by EMS World and the National Association of Emergency Medical Technicians. We have also been very fortunate to form a unique partnership with the Town of Colrain. As the provider of our home base with the housing of our ambulance, equipment and administrative headquarters based at Colrain Fire Department, we would be hard pressed to survive much less thrive without this help. Another huge benefit is the collaboration and teamwork that is displayed by all of the Public Safety entities towards each other’s mission to provide the best possible service to those in need. We are now in a period of unprecedented change as the face of healthcare brings increased opportunity and responsibility to provide care in innovative community based settings involving multiple caregivers in non-hospital situations.
