Ambulance service

To the Editor:

This year marks the 25th anniversary of the Plymouth Ambulance Service Inc. Congratulations and appreciation should go out to all of the men and women who have volunteered their time and talent during that period to making this essential community service a reality.

Through the years, with a focus on professionalism and a more thorough knowledge of first responder medical expertise and customer service, the organization realized these qualifications could not be guaranteed with volunteer help. This not-for-profit organization hired a full-time director of operations and continues assuring the safety and well-being of their patients by refining a staff of educated, qualified and certified health care professionals.

Today the Plymouth Ambulance Service employs 37 dedicated individuals who provide the best possible care available in the industry. Only 10 of these employees are full time and the remaining 27 are part time (paid-on-call).

What often goes unnoticed is the fact that, this service that most of us consider an entitlement, funded by our hard-earned tax dollars, is not funded by our tax dollars at all!

Your ambulance service is a fully functional independent business – albeit not for profit – that depends on proper management, fiscal responsibility, and intense ongoing education just like any other business. But like most nonprofit organizations, profitability is often dependent on generous donations from caring individuals who believe in the concept that having an ambulance available when you need it, is important.

So the next time Uncle Bill has chest pains, cousin Sarah is in a serious auto accident or Grandpa Jack needs professional medical transport to a local emergency department or Milwaukee specialist, keep in mind that the ambulance you simply assume will be there for you…

will be there for you, but not because your tax dollars are paying for it. You will have the best professional pre-hospital health care available because members of your community believe that an ambulance service is an essential service to our area, that should not be confused as an entitlement.

Terry Abler, current president of the board of directors, Plymouth Ambulance Service Inc.