Thank You For Your Service?

Editor’s Note: Bobbi M. Bittker is a candidate for re-election to the Bedford Town Board. All candidates on the ballot for Town Board are invited to send columns to this newspaper. Send them to opinion@halstonmedia.com. Please keep to a 1,000-word limit.

When Superstorm Sandy hit, we headed down to Brooklyn and picked up my 97-year-old grandmother who lived along the beach, an especially battered area. 

After my volunteer firefighter husband set up our portable generator, he left me, our three kids and my super-senior grandma in a mostly dark house with one mega flashlight. He spent the better part of the next few days at the firehouse to serve the community. Men and women all over Bedford did the same.

While all cities and most villages in New York State have paid fire protection agencies, most fire services in towns are performed by volunteers. Towns may contract with paid fire protection agencies. However, volunteer firefighters and Emergency Medical Technicians (EMTs) save municipalities and taxpayers millions of dollars, according to the Firefighters Association of the State of New York (FASNY). 

The first organization I joined when I moved to Bedford in 1993 was the Katonah Bedford Hills Volunteer Ambulance Corps (KBHVAC). I had a regular Friday night shift with my husband, Aric, and legends Betsy Smith and Bernie Roberts, who mentored countless baby EMTs like us. Unbeknownst to us at the time, it was the start of a long decline in non-profit volunteerism that continues to this day. Approximately 70% of all fire departments in the United States are staffed entirely by volunteers. But in the last four decades, the number of calls has tripled, while the number of volunteers has dropped. That is a public safety crisis.

The making of a first responder is neither a cheap, nor an easy endeavor. To become a licensed EMT in New York State, you must take an accredited course that is normally between 150 and 180 hours. Fire Fighter I training is 110 hours, and neither of these stats includes the additional time required to ride along, renew certification or attend necessary drills.

I recently participated in the League of Women Voters candidate forum. We were asked what role, if any, the Town should play in the retention and recruitment of volunteer first responders. Other candidates waxed rhapsodic about recognition. Bring them to a Town Board meeting and present a “Volunteer of the Year” award. I think that’s nice. But we need to dig deeper for these men and women who are risking their lives and sacrificing valuable family time for us. 

Volunteer agencies are the backbone of our first response system, and town leadership should engage in recruitment and retention efforts because it is fiscally responsible and imperative to the public health and welfare. We recently expanded tax exemptions for first responders and I have been working with the Finance Department to explore the feasibility of LOSAP (Length of Service Award Program) for KBHVAC members who do not have the benefit of a plan similar to those provided by the fire districts.

Not only do first responders need the support of town leadership; their success depends on whether residents and stakeholders back them. Recently, when my husband was wearing one of his many EMS/Fire shirts - there’s a lot of pride in the community, as there should be - he was greeted with “Thank you for your service.” This recognition has long been offered to members of the military community, but in the wake of COVID, it has become more prevalent toward first responders. Thankfully, people want to show their appreciation.

First responders who are supported with the proper facilities and apparatus feel appreciated. They need a strong communications infrastructure, consisting of a comprehensive wireless network, to do their jobs properly and safely. They need housing that ranges from affordable to market rate in the community where they volunteer.

And they have to put food on the table, so pursuing benefits and incentives that alleviate their financial burdens is critical.

Let’s be candid about our volunteer crisis, the risks our first responders take, and what we can really do for them. They don’t volunteer for the credit, recognition or benefits. But that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t provide them. We must continue to implement recruitment and retention strategies that range from LOSAP, and the tax exemptions we recently adopted in Bedford, to the recent Westchester County Higher Education Recruitment and Retention Opportunity (HERRO) tuition and student loan reimbursement program. As a community, we should support a strong wireless network to bolster emergency communications, and housing options that allow first responders to live in our community. By pursuing avenues that lighten their personal and professional burdens, we are thanking them for their service.