Ogdensburg squad sees more calls in 2011

The Ogdensburg Volunteer Rescue Squad responded to six percent more calls in 2011 than the year before, according to the emergency services provider’s 2011 annual report.

Director of Operations Kenneth J. Gardner said the squad answered a total of 2,462 calls in 2011. Broken down, they consisted of 2,323 patient contact and 132 calls to stand by for the Ogdensburg Fire Department. Included in that number were a handful of calls that ended up being canceled.

Geographically, the squad answered 1,682 calls for assistance in the city; 412 in the town of Oswegatchie; 121 in the town of Lisbon; 85 in the village of Heuvelton; 69 in the town of Morristown; 27 in the town of Waddington; 36 in the town of Hammond; and 19 in the town of DePeyster.

The squad also took in calls to the towns of Macomb, Potsdam, DeKalb, Hermon, Madrid and Rossie, as well as the village of Rensselaer Falls. Other calls in 2011 included 30 hospital-to-hospital transfers, which usually ended in Syracuse.

However busy the squad is in 2012, officials already know that the highlight of this year will come in the fall, when the squad hopes to be relocated from its current headquarters at 101 State St. to larger accommodations at the former Hacketts Hardware Store, 1223 Pickering St.

The squad’s offer to buy the 54,925-square-foot building was accepted late last year by KeyBank. That put the squad in play to apply for a $1.5 million low-interest loan from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Rural Development program.

Mr. Gardner is confident that the loan will be approved in the spring. That will be time enough to relocate to the new site by fall.

“We anticipate 2012 to be a very exciting year,” Mr. Gardner said.

Other highlights of the squad’s annual report include:

■ On average inside the city limits, the squad was en route to a call within 2.31 minutes and on scene in less than 3.49 minutes. In the service areas outside the city, the on-scene time is 5.12 minutes.

■ The squad’s Offshore Rescue Team answers water emergency-related calls throughout St. Lawrence County in cooperation with the county’s underwater recovery team. The squad answered 10 such calls in 2011.

■ The squad has 55 volunteers, an increase of eight over 2010. They worked a total of 20,211 hours in 2011. Mr. Gardner said that was “amazing” statistic.

“At a time when the majority of emergency medical services agencies around the state continue to drop in volunteer members, the Ogdensburg Volunteer Rescue Squad continues to grow and thrive.”

The squad marked its 50th anniversary in 2011.