LEYDEN — Continuing a trend of regionalization with surrounding communities that began amid ongoing reviews of the town’s emergency response services, Leyden has signed an agreement with the Colrain Volunteer Ambulance Association for emergency medical services.

“I feel Leyden is going to be much better covered for ambulance and EMS,” said Public Safety Advisory Committee Chair Liz Kidder. “The cost of having our own ambulance for a town the size of Leyden is not possible.”

The cost for equipment and labor, as well as finding qualified people to work, all pose challenges in small towns in Franklin County, according to Colrain Ambulance Director/CEO Gary Ponce. Towns have naturally begun working together to share resources and reduce costs.

“The cost of providing these services has gone haywire,” Ponce said.

“It is evolving out of necessity,” Kidder added.

With the new agreement, an ambulance from Colrain will arrive to Leyden locations within 15 to 30 minutes. The average response time within Colrain is 12 minutes, according to Ponce.

“Most people want an ambulance to show up in five minutes; that is not a reality in our area,” Ponce said. “Colrain responding within a half hour at most is the best you can hope for in a rural area.”

Leyden will pay a $375 fee each time the ambulance is called. The Colrain Volunteer Ambulance Association, a nonprofit paramedic-level ambulance service, will now serve three towns: Colrain, Leyden and Heath. Should the ambulance service not be available to respond, mutual aid will be called.

Before this agreement, Leyden was served by the for-profit company American Medical Response (AMR), which would respond from Greenfield. According to Kidder, AMR responded to a fraction of the emergency calls, necessitating mutual aid.

In March 2022, Leyden and Bernardston received a $187,000 state Efficiency and Regionalization grant to reconfigure their emergency services. As part of this effort, Leyden entered into an agreement to receive policing services from Bernardston, a change that has been in effect since July 2022.

“You are starting to see more collaboration in services,” Ponce said.

He pointed to South County EMS, which serves Deerfield, Whately and Sunderland. Similarly, Northfield EMS now serves Northfield, Bernardston, Gill and Erving. Ponce also referenced how municipal police departments are combining forces in the same way, with the Shelburne Police Department now providing policing services to Buckland.

“Regionalization for rural towns has been happening for some time,” Kidder added, noting how Highland Ambulance in Goshen responds to medical emergencies in six towns.

Kidder said Leyden is still unsure if it will look to enter into agreements for firefighting services, though the Leyden Fire Department has been making strides toward rebuilding and adding new members since membership dwindled to one earlier this year. There is also a strong mutual aid system in place for firefighting services, with firefighters from Colrain, Bernardston, Leyden and Guilford, Vermont, all participating in trainings together.

With the ambulance agreement in place, Colrain has begun progressively training to deal with responses in Leyden. The goal is for the first responders to get to know the area better so they can respond more efficiently.

“We are very pleased to feel confident we will get high-quality professional service for a reasonable price,” Kidder said. “We are going to be following what happens in regard to the future as towns approach regionalization and see if ambulance services evolve into a different management structure.”

Bella Levavi can be reached at 413-930-4579 or blevavi@recorder.com.