Representatives from Medcare, Bernardston’s current ambulance service provider, are making plans to meet with members of the Bernardston Board of Fire Engineers after learning last week that Bernardston is considering switching to the Northfield EMS ambulance service.
“We are still trying to find out exactly what’s going on,” said Danielle West, Operations Manager and Communications Supervisor for Medcare’s Greenfield division. “We have no complaints from Bernardston about service. This is news to us. … We hope to remain their (Bernardston’s) primary 911 provider.”
Medcare has provided EMS ambulance service to Bernardston for over 20 years, West said. Until 2010, it was the primary provider of ambulance services to Northfield too.
Northfield’s own ambulance services have existed in various capacities since the 1980s, said Northfield EMS Chief Mark Fortier, but only as a secondary “backup” to some other company’s service.