After I got out of the way and returned home I thought I saw a second ambulance come which must have been called in from mutual aid. There were several adults and small children so it isn’t surprising they couldn’t transport them all. I hope everyone was o.k. and my prayers are with them.

I just wanted to share how proud I am of the Rescue and Fire volunteers and how great they worked together. I know they do this hundreds of times a year…I don’t… and I don’t think many residents get to see everything unfold as i did.. Our Volunteers are impressive in action… Thank You Volunteers!  Keep Up the Great Work!!

(Video: Watch this video on the post page)

UPDATE 03/29/10 – I was able to get the second part of the meeting that included the presentation it is available here

It would probably be best to right click and “save as” to save locally to view.

Meeting Highlights:

• General Administration Budgets are STILL NOT AVAILABLE, well they are but there not..you get the picture.
• The Roads budget is being revisited and may be seeing some changes
• Rescue budget is about the same as last year even though their call volume is up significantly.
• The Ambulance is in dire need of Air Bags that are used to raise and lower the box. The maintenance will take the Ambulance offline for up to two weeks, since the whole box must be removed to change the units out. During this time the town will be reliant on mutual aid coverage from away.
• Rescue is regularly finding difficulty in dealing with multiple calls. Volunteers arrive on scene and begin treatment, but the Ambulance is already on another call and the responders have to wait for an Ambulance from another town to respond. Chief Cole explained seconds count in an emergency. They detailed several cases during the presentation.
• Rescue is seeing increased calls for mutual aid to help other towns.
• Rescue explained the need for an additional Ambulance. Call volume, service to residents, mutual aid are all a part of it. The additional ambulance would pay it’s own expenses through revenue generated, it further would provide a back stop for maintenance of the current ambulance. There is a large enough volunteer base to support the second unit.
• Although first and foremost Rescue is concerned with saving lives and emergency response it does provide revenues. the revenues not only cover it’s own operating expense but saves the town money. The town is able to save a significant amount of money by utilizing the Rescue’s revenue. By doing this the Town doesn’t have to borrow money to pay bills while waiting for tax proceeds to come in.
• The last portion of the meeting regarding the New Ambulance was missed on the video.
• Of course there was more….

The Lebanon online video archive is available Here.

UPDATE 3/29/10 – Added second half of video

Watch 03-17-10 Lebanon Maine Budget Committee in News |  View More Free Videos Online at Veoh.com