The Town of Alden recently signed a contract with the Lancaster Volunteer Ambulance Corps (LVAC) to provide an emergency ambulance service fir the town.  However, Alden has worked with four different companies to provide this service: Alden Hook and Ladder, Crittenden, Town Line, and Millgrove.  These companies would cover specific regions of the Town.  Due to increasingly strict rules of New York State, these companies had to stop providing the ambulance services to the town.

In the early 1990’s, the Town contracted with Rural Metro to provide this service, but this service ended in September of 2016 when Rural Metro, which is now called AMR (American Medical Response), decided to stop serving the Alden area.  Therefore, Alden had to quickly find a provider.  By various State rules and departments, the “right and approval” for a company to provide such a service is restricted and only granted to certain companies, according to Town Supervisor Rick Savage.  AMR and Twin City Ambulance were the only ones with the authority to work in Alden.  The Town then had to apply to the State for the authority to operate an ambulance service so it could then contract with another willing provider.  The Town chose LVAC.

The town completed this process in three months and secured a contract with LVAC for two years.  However, the process for acquiring a permanent provider after the two years is very complex and lengthy.  The process includes, as Mr. Savage emphasized, proving that the Town of Alden has a need for such a service.