The Mad River Valley Ambulance Service (MRVAS) is again reaching out to local towns seeking a financial contribution for 2026, as towns begin budgeting for next year.
Last month, MRVAS treasurer and volunteer EMT Mark Giometti came to the Warren Select Board to explain the volunteer service’s financial picture. MRVAS is one of the last all-volunteer EMS squads in Vermont. The service faces rising equipment costs, increasingly demanding training requirements, and a shrinking volunteer pool.
Giometti, who also serves on the squad’s board of directors, provided an annual update on the service’s operations and financial outlook. He said the goal is transparency as towns begin their budget planning cycles. MRVAS is seeking $14,000 from Warren for the 2026 budget.
“We are a volunteer organization, one of the last two left in the state,” Giometti said. One of the squad’s biggest challenges, he noted, is the aging membership. “We have 10 crew chiefs who are the critical medical personnel on the squad, and three of them – one is in their 80s, and two or three of them are in their 60s.” Only two advanced EMTs are currently in the pipeline to move into crew chief roles, and “it’s, frankly, a long and arduous task to become crew chief,” he said.
MRVAS must set aside about $180,000 annually in capital reserves to replace its ambulances and critical medical equipment on a predictable cycle. “The next ambulance is coming online next year. It’s going to be about $360,000,” Giometti said. Another ambulance will need replacement three years later at roughly $400,000.
MRVAS has roughly $791,000 in its investment account against $803,000 in long-term capital needs – a deficit of about $12,000, though Giometti said that figure has improved since the beginning of the year. Revenues have been stronger than last year, leaving the squad about $50,000 ahead of prior projections.
Individual donations continue to be a major support. “It’s averaged $82,000 a year,” he said. “Pretty incredible considering all the challenges that are out there.”
Training demands, have increased. Current state and national certification standards require ongoing monthly training for all responders. Until now, MRVAS members have trained one another, but Giometti said that is no longer sustainable. The service is negotiating with Barre Town EMS to bring paramedics to The Valley to provide training and occasional shift coverage. “The cost of that is going to be about $55,000,” he said – about a 20% increase to the operating budget.
Equipment costs are also rising. A set of cardiac monitors originally budgeted at $120,000 is now expected to cost $150,000. The board is also evaluating providing health care benefits for MRVAS’s one paid employee, its office manager, which could add another $13,000.
Select board members asked about call volume, seasonal patterns and the number of volunteers recruited this year. Giometti said MRVAS has responded to 442 calls so far with increases driven by both the ski area and an aging local population. Recruitment remains challenging, he said, with a handful of new EMTs and drivers certified this year.
MRVAS covered 99% of calls without requesting mutual aid, but weekend and evening shift coverage is increasingly difficult. Giometti said the squad hopes to remain fully volunteer but acknowledged that outside staffing support may eventually be necessary.
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